Sofia Olivar-Jimenez is a captain on the crew team and is involved with the Seattle Prep Choir. She is also a senior in the AP Art class. AP art is a yearlong course, and at the end of the year each student submits a portfolio of work for AP studio art credit. Olivar won a Regional Honorable Mention from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for her “Eastlake as I Remember It” painting.
“My AP portfolio includes a ton of paintings focused on water and reflection. I used large scale painting to really try to immerse the viewer into my art, and help capture my daily experiences on the water.” Olivar said, “My investigation explores how I can convey the personal significance of different Seattle waterways.”
In “Eastlake as I Remember It”, Olivar depicted the east shore of Lake Union in Seattle, Washington. The point of view in the painting was inspired by the view that someone might have from a rowing shell in the middle of the lake.
““Eastlake as I Remember It” is about how when I leave Seattle, the place that I’ll remember most from rowing is looking over towards the College Club. The shore of Eastlake fades into red by south lake union — where I think I’ll have a less clear memory of the lake” Olivar said.
Her next painting featured here; “Red Can” depicts the Pocock turn of the I-5 overpass based on a picture she took from a launch boat. One of the things she wanted to feature in this painting is the light that comes from the houseboats on the shore. Olivar also experimented with capturing sunset in a unique way by “leaving a bright underpainting exposed to create light within the painting.” Olivar said.
In her painting “The Cut”, Olivar used a massive, raw piece of canvas to depict the Montlake Cut. The Montlake Cut is a place she loves not only from rowing, but also from walking her dog Pepa there. She figured out how she wanted to capture the ripples of the water from six smaller paintings she had made to experiment with different ways of depicting it.
Olivar’s final painting featured here is called “Race Day”. This piece is made from three different canvases that all come together to depict a cropped version of a quad on Lake Union. She used the mark making technique, the process of creating different kinds of marks on a surface using different material and tools.
“I wanted to really make the reflections of the rowers convey the excitement and anticipation of Raceday by bringing in more pastel colors to make the water seem like it’s glowing with energy.” Olivar said.
Olivar’s amazing work gives viewers a look into her personal perspective of some of Seattle’s most memorable waterways as both an artist and a rower.
Sofia Olivar–Jimenez in the process of creating her painting “The Cut”.
