Senior Chloe Yahner is described by her friends and teachers as an artist and a kind soul. Yahner has had a family history in art with her mother attending Temple University and attaining a major in art history.

Senior Chloe Yahner is described by her friends and teachers as an artist and a kind soul.

Yahner has had a family history in art with her mother attending Temple University and attaining a major in art history.

She credits her mother for her passion in art, saying that “seeing her do art made me want to be like her, and it kind of just went on from there.”

When she wanted to take a serious approach to this interest, Yahner joined the AP Art class at Foothill under the guidance of art teacher Justin Frazier.

She gives credit to the program for evolving her skills and deepening her passion.

“Frazier is a really good teacher. I’ve been taking AP [Art] since sophomore year, so I’ve been really involved in the art program,” she said.

Foothill art teacher Justin Frazier has been teaching at Foothill for ten years.

He’s been teaching Yahner since her freshman year.

“Chloe worked independently as a freshman, which freshmen usually don’t have that kind of maturity. She’s developed her own way of working. When she started she was good, but now she’s really good,” Frazier said.

In addition to supplementing her skills at Foothill, Yahner has also taken art classes at Ventura College. She praises both classes. 

Out of all her pieces, her favorite ones are portraits.

“I was flipping through a vintage National Geographic magazine,” Yahner said.

“I saw a picture of an old woman peeking out of all these beautiful tropical flowers and so that made me want to do it, and it turned out really pretty and bright.”

When asked about her role models and inspirations, she turned to Frida Kahlo, a Mexican painter best known for her self-portraits.

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“[Her self-portraits] all have a lot of deep meaning and they’re all really interesting. She uses a lot of bright colors and has her own style. She’s a really big female artist in the art room and I love her,” Yahner said.

When asked her opinion on what the most important tool to an artist is, she replied with “creativity.”

“It’s all about the process, and you know when you feel inspired. When you look at something and you’re just like ‘wow.’” 

On National Portfolio Day, she attended an art convention in San Diego, which was a portfolio review event. There, she discovered several colleges that met her criteria. Currently, she is interested in going to Laguna School of Art. Yahner admits that it’s a small college and has always aimed to break free of the small school atmosphere; nonetheless, she is still interested in attending.

Senior Beatrice Capilli is a close friend of Yahner and has noticed improvements in her paintings from when she first started out.        

“When she draws people they tend to look the same, but now she’s differentiating them,” she said.

Capilli also added that she particularly loved her oil pastel works.

“Even when she’s doodling or working on a large project they look like masterpieces,” she said.

In the future, Yahner would like to pursue a modern twist on art such as graphic design, and also the creative side of marketing.

After college she plans to move to San Francisco and become an art teacher as she loves kids and can see herself being an educator.

Background Photo Credit: Sarah Kagan/The Foothill Dragon Press