DIXON, CA (MPG) - There’s a girl with large, frightened eyes with mouth open"'maybe ready to scream"'and an open hand out as if to stop the dark image she is facing. The two seem to be drowning in colors of blue and black. Next to it is a blue ribbon for “Dixon High School Best of Show.” It was painted by Arianna Barajas, a Junior in her second year as an art student.

The annual school art show missed a beat last year but this year, teachers Erin Jackson and Nick Stidham had every student enter at least one piece so two classrooms were transformed into a showcase of drawings, paintings, digital art, and ceramics last week.

Messy brains, bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth, disease, frowns, and lots of dark colors seemed to dominate both the ceramics and the wall art show. They were perused by students and teachers for several days during lunch hours and one evening for student’s families.

“Every student taking art classes is represented here,” said Jackson. “There’s a lot of students who excel and Arianna is one of them,” she said, pointing out the blue girl. “Most of the assignments have to have a meaning.” She explained that the girl in the painting was under water.

“I have noticed a trend this year that the art is a lot darker in nature which is indicative of issues the teens are going through this year,” teacher Nic Stidham said as his art students walked through the displays. Stidham is a Career Technical Education Instructor/Instructional Designer who picked up the sense of anxiety and depression in the students, he said.

Students don’t hesitate to tell how they felt about not being able to go to school last year.

“I felt like throwing up,” said Austin Lau, a junior this year and a young man who plans to keep art as a hobby as he grows up. Fellow student Zachary Reeder likes creating art on the computer and made a cup out of clay.

“Just the act of being creative releases those feelings and provides a natural outlet for things that are bottled up,” said Stidham. “The list is long of really talented students in my classes.”

One of the students in Jackson’s class wants to become an art teacher. This is significant for Jackson who took ten years to get her undergraduate degree before going back for a Master’s in Fine Art.

That student who already knows what she wants would be Genesis Servin who also won a blue ribbon.

“When a student takes to it, their personality really comes out. There is much to experience in being creative,” Jackson said. In her ceramics class, she gave the students a large chunk of clay and they had to divide it into three “forms” then put them together. Those were the only rules.

“They had the freedom to do whatever,” she said as she walked through dozens of strange and colorful ceramic designs. “It is interesting to see how they interpret and it’s fun to watch how their mind is going to work. They don’t have much experience in being creative.”

In ceramics, students not only are getting a painting class, but they have to learn to build with a whole new material.

“Most have never used clay and then there is the glazing that affects the color,” she added. Sensing her genuine passion for art, this writer asked about the colors in her home.

“Colors are everywhere. Colors mean something,” she said. “I have no normal dishes. They are all hand made.”