STANDARDS

Core Art Standards:  VA8, VA10

CCSS: R2, R6

Art You Can Touch

How does this artist evoke nature in her work?

Anna Dixon, 16, Gold Medal, Mixed Media. Images courtesy of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners of 2024.

How does Anna explore texture in her embroidery?

Anna Dixon, 16, loves to make art you can touch. As a student at the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, Anna studies visual arts and technical theater. In the future, she intends to study fashion design or marine microbiology. Anna explores these varied interests in her artwork.

What inspired Low Tide?

I decided to try working with beads because I love embroidery and textiles. As I started working on Low Tide, it began to remind me of tide pools, which I spent a lot of time in as a kid. This work specifically reminds me of low tide, when you can see many different animals, like barnacles.

Images courtesy of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners of 2024.

Anna Dixon

What was your working process?

It was a long, tedious process. It took me about three weeks. I started with an image in my head that I sketched on canvas. Then I stitched with embroidery floss and added beads to make the artwork more tactile.

How does Low Tide reflect other work you’ve created?

Like Low Tide, a lot of my work is inspired by nature. In addition to embroidery, I do a lot of traditional film photography of natural landscapes. I also recently became interested in creating wearable pieces out of recycled materials. I think Low Tide helped me discover this new path.

What advice do you have for other student artists?

I think my creative environment is unique. I take more arts classes than I do academic classes. This structure has helped me hone my skills but has also taught me how important it is to persevere. My advice for other artists is to keep going, even when something takes a lot of time—and late nights!

Anna received a Gold Medal for her work in the 2024 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. 

To learn more about this program, visit artandwriting.org

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