Mar 6, 2026
Get Into the Zonerama Owl 18”x 24” matted to 22”x 28” Mixed Media by Matthew Boothe ‘22
During the past few years, Mrs. Julie Pedersen chose an “Artist of the Month” to showcase student artwork for a short time. This year, she got the pleasure of choosing artwork of four deserving students to have their artwork professionally printed and framed to hang up in the hallway for permanent display in the highschool. The first four CDHS student artists to have the honor of highlighting their talents are Matthew Boothe ‘22, Mara Dykes ‘22, Kiley Zion ‘24 and Chloe Hamaker ‘22.
Wow! What can I say? The incredible piece of art shown above, Get Into the Zonerama Owl, with its intense gaze was created by the hardworking and talented senior art student Matthew Boothe. In this challenging value study and media exploration project, he was required to use five different types of media. The mediums he used are from left to right, pen & ink, oil pastels, colored pencils, chalk pastels and graphite pencil. Matt used his excellent observation skills, his “blended” shading technique (in four of the zones) and his “stippling” shading technique (in the left zone) to show incredible value changes creating beautiful textures and a sense of realism.
Get Into the Zonerama Zebra 18”x 24” matted to 22”x 28” Mixed Media by Mara Dykes ‘22
The amazing piece of art shown above, Get Into the Zonerama Zebra, was created by the hardworking and talented senior art student Mara Dykes. She has created this fun view of a zebra with his nose almost pressed up against the viewer. In this challenging value study and media exploration project, she was required to use five different types of media. The mediums she used are from left to right, chalk pastels, colored pencil, graphite pencils, pen & ink, and oil pastels. Her ability to match values across the zones is incredible. She is a perfectionist and her effort over the years from 7th grade to her senior year of art have been fun to watch. Just like in this drawing, with all of her hard work and dedication, Mara will excel in whatever she decides to do!
Dancer 18”x 24” Pastels by Kiley Zion ‘24
The beautiful piece of art shown above, Dancer, was created by the hardworking and talented art student Kiley Zion. In this piece, she was required to draw a Degas inspired pastel drawing. After a couple of pastel practice pieces and a short Edgar Degas artist study, Kiley started on this drawing. Her soft, flowing lines create a peaceful and beautiful rendition of this ballet dancer. Kiley’s skillful use of shading and highlights create a wonderfully three dimensional drawing. Her red colored bow and red muted outline to this otherwise black and white piece gives it the perfect accent of color and contrast.
Cowboy Boot 9”x 12” Pencil by Chloe Hamaker ‘22
This wonderful original piece of artwork shown above, Cowboy Boot, was created by the hardworking and talented art student Chloe Hamaker. For this piece, she was required to set up a still life of her own shoe or boot to draw. Chloe’s attention to detail is amazing. The time she put into this was incredible. Working tirelessly to get every line just so, Chloe then finished her drawing with the perfect amount of shading and values to make it look three dimensional. Her drawing is so realistic it looks like a photograph. This artwork reminds me of Chloe and her love of 4H, ag, FFA, horses and of course, art!
These four future additions of artwork in the main hallway that students can view anytime, but especially while waiting in line for lunch, not only provide a pop of color to our walls, but are also helping to make the school feel more like a home.
Left to Right: Kiley Zion, Chloe Hamaker, Mara Dykes, and Matt Boothe.