jrowe

Reaching Out

|

My artwork relates to something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve been doubting my art skills a lot and I feel like I’m not on the same level as other people my age. I’ve realized that I shouldn’t be comparing myself to the people around me and that I should look at their success and use that to motivate me to be better instead of feeling bad about it. Also seeing the people I look up to support and compliment me and my art gives me hope and motivates me to get better and reach my goals.

A Kind Older Sister

|

I drew a picture of my older sister. She has inspired me. She has supported me. And she has used her incredible influence for good. I went into freshman year of high school practically knowing no one. I had transferred from a charter school to a traditional public school that was in another district. Predictably, I felt extremely lonely, and the experience was all but overwhelming to me. However, my older sister who I’ve depicted here, was a junior at the time, and she watched out for me. She put her best efforts forward to be there for me and to be my friend. She introduced me to her friends and helped me integrate into this new school. I thank her for that, and her kind actions mean so much to me.

Growing Flower Tree

|

“When a plant is well nurtured, it starts to grow. Something that helped me bring back hope for the future was speaking affirmative words and phrases before leaving home and before starting anything new.”

Search for Compassion

|

“My entry shows my experience as a student who has to attend high school on a tele-conferencing robot because of my disability. The scenes show every day life with the robot at school. The robot is always alone, with crowds of students passing by without acknowledging me. I would like to advocate for other students to show compassion for myself and other kids and teens who deal with disabilities.”

Belief

|

“Belief has the power to change your whole outlook of your situation.”

The Importance of Respect

|

“Our word for this month’s prompt is ‘Respect’ to describe the world we envision that supports youth mental health. There are multiple ways of showing respect and it all comes down to each and everyone of us.”

Made Not Born

|

“When I asked my class what word described their vision of Mental Health at our school, they all thought of the same thing. At our school they are leaders – they promote Mental Health – offer help and assistance to anyone that needs it – they are aware and feel responsible. They have learned from their partnership with Directing Change and RCOE that the future is up to them! We have to work together within our school and our community to bring awareness and help to those that need it… that requires leadership.”

Apprehension

|

“The painting was done with watercolor first, a medium often associated with tranquility and contentment. The colored pencil on top is scratchy and messy, symbolizing feelings of unease and anxiety. The subject looks away and pulls their hair back to reveal flowers stemming from a scab on her scalp. I’ve always struggled with anxiety physically and mentally. I have a tendency to pick at my scalp whenever I feel anxious, and I wanted to illustrate it in this painting. Watercolors are a familiar medium to me, whereas colored pencils are newer. The red columbine flowers in this painting symbolize anxiety but also fortitude. The person faces the flowers in the background, looking toward a hopeful future.”

Ambivalent

|

“My entry is a poem. It is about on protests that starts with a meaning but slowly it loses its definition. I want to give an insight on my frustration on those protests. There’s no specific protest I’m talking about. I will be talking about how protests start off with a meaning and a demand for a specific change, but that meaning slowly rots away when people who don’t understand the movement join in.”

Mysteries

|

“Mysteries is about a mystery that haunts some of the minds of today, it is a lesser known mystery but a mystery.”