An important aspect of growing up is finding your interests. Senior Anika Reichelt showed an interest in art all the way back in her preschool days, leading her to find her passion in the art world.

“I started doodling as a preschooler, but I started taking it more seriously in middle school,” Reichelt said. “Even in elementary school, I started buying art books and trying to learn how to do different techniques.”

But once Reichelt entered high school, she had many more opportunities to continue and follow her passion. Because of the variety of art classes offered at WHS, Reichelt can focus on her art mainly at school. But Reichelt enjoys a broad spectrum of art forms; she also concentrates on sewing in her free time.

“[I do] most of my visual art at school, [but] I do sew outside of school,” Reichelt said. “A lot of the pieces that I am submitting for the [AP Studio Art] exam are done in school.”

While Reichelt enjoys portraying different aspects of art at and outside of school, sewing has been another hobby of hers for a long time. Her grandmother, who was a principal figure in helping Reichelt find her passion, taught her how to sew when she was very young.

“[My favorite memory with art was] my grandmother teaching me how to sew when I was around eight,” Reichelt said. “I made her an embroidery last year, and she died this summer, so it was like a present that I was really excited to give to her.”

Besides sewing outside of school, Reichelt enjoys portraying different types of pieces at school.

“I really like [portraying] costumes and clothing [in my art]. I think that’s really cool,” Reichelt said. “I also like [portraying] faces. I think there is a lot you can do there and so many different styles.”

Reichelt created a special piece during her junior year. It ended up being her favorite work yet due to its creativity and intricacy.

“Last year, we made sculptures out of books, and I did a New York skyline, and I included a set of lights inside of it,” Reichelt said. “I [also] tried to put a music box inside of it, and it didn’t work. But that was just something I had always wanted to try, and it was really fun to do.”

That one piece Reichelt created has various different features to it, and Reichelt believes her mastery of different forms of art has supplemented her ability to create more sophisticated pieces of art. Reichelt will be attending school mainly for theatre this fall, but there are many characteristics to her major as a whole, including both design and drawing.

Art has taken Reichelt far in life, and she believes that art has a special meaning, something that not everyone might understand.

“It’s a way to express yourself, outside of words, which is tricky for a lot of people,” Reichelt said.