Highlighting students’ talents and achievements is one of Hardin-Simmons University’s greatest joys. HSU students have so many unique talents and it is always a blessing when students are able to be recognized for those gifts.
Every year, the art department at HSU hosts a student art competition. This year’s guest juror was Bryan Vause, an alum from HSU’s art program. The week before the competition, he came in and chose pieces based on different categories including 2D art, 3D art, photography, digital design, time-based media, interactive work, honorable mention and best in show.
This year’s winner of best in show was Emmalie Kendrick with her piece called Bubba. Kendrick is a junior transfer fine art major from Abilene. She was homeschooled growing up and is a self-taught artist who has always enjoyed art, specifically creating images of people, faces and hands. Kendrick’s hyper-realistic portrait was of her older brother, Tyler, and was based on a photograph she took of him from her living room. This was her first time using oil paint and this particular project took her over 100 hours to complete. Kendrick did a stellar job on this piece, and it was an honor to get to see all of the incredible pieces students entered into this competition.
Kendrick expressed gratitude for her experiences with the HSU art department and faculty.
“I have enjoyed the freedom given to me by my professor to create almost whatever I want, and I have enjoyed the honest critiques and suggestions on my work,” Kendrick said. “They have helped make my work more efficient and appealing.”
In addition to Bubba, Kendrick also worked on a piece called Buster. Buster was also inspired by her brother.
“I still see room for improvement in both of those pieces, but that is my view of all of my works. To me they will never be finished because I will always see something that could be better,” Kendrick said.
Despite her perspective about her work being unfinished, Kendrick’s hard work and incredible skill was recognized by the art department and competition judges. The art department is full of so many talented and hard-working students and we are so thankful for the opportunities that students have to showcase their work here at HSU.
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