Stirling Wallace, a senior at Ojai Valley School, has found a passion for art through the guidance of her art teacher, Chia Hersk.
She has found a passion for sketching, painting, and ceramics. She chooses to spend her free periods and lunch working on her AP Art and her creative Capstone, making paint and art from natural resources.
“Stirling uses art as a form of meditation,” Ms. Hersk explained. “She can find peace in drawing and painting.”
Stirling has chosen to use natural resources, like leaves, plants, and printing plants on clay. She is also going to be making paint with pigment from flowers. She is also focusing on making a collage with abstract patterns.
“I have a passion for art because I just forget about everything else and draw,” Stirling said.
Stirling grew her passion for art and has shown a drastic improvement. She loves to just sit for hours, retrying and perfecting her projects. She continues to restart and add details until she feels fully confident in her work.
“I’ve been able to experiment with a bunch of different types, but my favorite type of art is watercolor,” she said.
Stirling has tried countless mediums, including watercolor, drawing, painting, collage, and more. She plans to continue working on her art and potentially pursue a career in some sort of art. She is interested in more hands-on art, like interior design, art sales, and is still researching.


