Today in Ms. Shovlin’s sophomore drawing/painting class an unplanned artist talk ensued, stalling the class’s bi-weekly crit scolding. The students claim it saved them from an onslaught of disappointed “Art Mom” looks and accidental hip bumps into unfinished wet paintings.

The talk itself was done by national award winning, county acclaimed, 5-time scholastic winner, Random Visual Arts senior who commented “I had nothing better to do during 4th period”. The senior was hand-picked from the hallway by Ms. Shovlin, unprepared yet willing to share their 4 years of “making it up as they go” and their future of “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

According to a half-asleep sophomore student, the talk went as follows:

Ms. Shovlin started the introduction with spontaneity however it was quickly followed by excessive stuttering and uncomfortable silence from the senior as they tried to explain what their paintings look like without having it in the flesh.

“I mean, it was like, um around 4ft tall. You know, it was the one with those two figures talking and a monster was behind them. You know the one.”

The description was then repeated a multitude of times after Ms. Shovlin asks, “wasn’t that the one that won an award in that one competition, the one with the birds?” The discussion delved into specific description of their work, their artist process (the artist neglected to mention multiple all-nighters), and “Yadda yadda yadda. Something about mental illness and burnout.”

The end of class was allotted for school and work-related questions, most ranging from “how did you pick your college?” to “Do you think free will an illusion, or are we cogs in a greater machine?” or “Are you afraid imposter syndrome isn’t a real thing and you’re deceiving yourself and others?” to which the senior then broke down in tears, ending one intriguing and informational artist talk.