Kai Staal moved from Saipan to Ashland this year, bringing with him his amazing artistic talents. Drawing inspiration mainly from nature, Staal has been doing art for as long as he can remember. “My mother is an artist, and so I got a lot of my art from her,” Staal said. His earliest memory of doing art is tie-dying shirts with his mother. “Also, every holiday or birthday card I made myself; we never bought any,” said Staal. On top of all the art Staal has did at home, he took an art class for two years, in Saipan, in what he called a “funky little shack.” The art class allowed him to work with clay, one of his favorite mediums. The art teacher had a potter’s wheel, kiln, and everything needed. Although he loves working with clay, he hasn’t been able to do it as much in Ashland because he doesn’t have access to the necessary equipment. However, despite Stall’s love for working clay, he still prefers ink and watercolors.Staal’s artistic style also seems to have been heavily influenced by his island homeland.“His style is very island,” said Brendan Reece-Sullivan, an AHS senior and friend of Staal’s. Staal describes his style as very vivid; he likes using dark lines, strongcolors and lots of shadow. He also likes art with depth; art that that looks three dimensional. Staal’s work is dominated by natural subjects, like landscapes and waves.

“Things that flow and move,”Staal called the favorite themes in his art.

As well as providing a way to explore art, Staal’s art class in Saipan gave him one of his favorite memories that relates to art.

“In the art class, we had S-time, snack time. It was always our favorite time and we had nutella. When it was time, we would all yell ‘S-time!’ ” To this day, Staal still uses S-time as a happy saying, and it always comes to mind when he thinks of his art.

“Art is a way for me to get away from everything…” said Staal.

Staal is promising young artist in the AHS community, and we are looking forward to seeing more of his art over the next year.