Columbus Academy senior Mya Falkenhain has established her name in art within the walls of the school. When students walk into the art room, Falkenhain’s talent and artistry jump out from whatever her current project is resting on the easel in the right corner of the room, prompting them to whisper to each other, “Who painted that?”
Floral depictions with an abundance of saturated colors and meticulously placed texture painted on canvases of a grand scale are Falkenhain’s signature pieces. In her sophomore and junior year, Falkenhain worked with acrylic paint and a pallet knife and focused on painting flowers. More recently, she has shifted towards creating artwork with oil paint to achieve more realistic paintings on smaller canvases.
For Falkenhain, art is more than a form of expression, it is her escape from everything else in life. She explains that “that 45 minutes I get a day in the art room has always been my favorite, as I get to forget about my stress and just relax.” This therapeutic aspect of her artwork is displayed through the smooth, clean brush strokes and cohesive colors she chooses to work with on each painting.
Art has also helped Falkenhain build stronger relationships with other people, such as students from other grades, her art teacher Mr. Block, and – most importantly – her grandmother. Being an artist herself, Falkenhain’s grandmother is a big artistic influence in her life. Falkenhain says, “ My grandma has taught her a lot of what I know [about art] when I was younger. I remember when I was in lower school and together we would create these drawings together. Now that I am older, I love sharing my art with her and it is something that has continuously brought us closer.”
Falkenhein’s love for her family is seen through a recent portrait of her childhood home, also her favorite piece she has ever created. Falkenhain dedicated this painting to her parents, and when asked about what it represented, she responded: “This is the house that my family has lived in our whole lives, so to me, this painting represents all our family memories. I was inspired by a photo I took of the house, and I tried to recreate the unique Victorian details of it in my painting.”
As Falkenhain graduates this spring, she plans on continuing her artistic journey beyond the walls of Columbus Academy. In college, she hopes to take art classes to expand her talents and continue her hobby.
