SMIS junior Autumn Terry brought home a white ribbon from the 33rd Annual American Indian Student Art Show & Sale in Phoenix, AZ, held this past April. Autumn is one of five high school students who submitted paintings and drawings for the show.
Autumn has dedicated many hours practicing sketching and painting techniques. She learned from online videos, art classes at SMIS, and advice from her uncle, Dion Terry. “I started drawing for fun first, and then I started painting. My parents don’t paint or draw, so I’m not sure where I started gaining my interest.”
Autumn said when asked how she gained an interest in art. Over the years, she completed numerous drawings and some were featured in school calendars. Horses are her prime focus, and she has expanded into drawing people. “I watched videos on mixing colors and some other painting techniques. I like to experiment, and the most challenging has been skin colors,” she said pointing to a few paintings featuring women.
Her favorite painting is one she made of her grandma. She smiled when thinking about her grandma and said, “when I showed her the painting she was very happy and then told me to put a sheep in it!”
Autumn hopes to enter more shows at local museums or art crawls and is encouraged by friends. Former art teacher Andrea Ashkie (’06) taught her watercolor and pottery techniques in class. Learning about shadows and light in class, she was able to implement those art concepts into her paintings. “I switch between landscapes, horses, and people. I’m not too interested in portraits right now. Hands are pretty challenging, and I often make them too big or small,” she joked about how her art has developed.
Autumn is the daughter of Dewayne Terry (’96) and Cheryl Terry (’96). Her older sister Summer (’17) graduated from SMIS and her younger sister Tatum is in sixth grade. Autumn participates in volleyball.