A painting of a partial skeleton with a heart showing through has earned a Bowie Middle School student a platinum award from the Visual Arts Scholastic Event.
Although she painted as a hobby when she was younger, 13-year-old eighth-grader Dailene Gomez had devoted more of her attention to sports in recent years. She was in volleyball and basketball and wanted to add track, but found out she had a heart condition. Being unable to participate in sports this year, she started going to art club at Bowie for something to do.
Gomez was recently cleared to play again, but is wearing a heart monitor to figure out why she was having issues.
The winning painting was inspired by what she was going through at the time.
“I lost motivation to finish it and then I came back and finished it,” Gomez said.
Her art teacher, Whitney Carter, said Gomez worked on the painting for well over two months.
The painting is done in acrylic. She likes acrylic and how it works. The process calms her down, helps her forget about everything and express what she’s going through without talking. Her medium depends on what she feels like doing, but Carter said she’s used just about everything including coffee.
She added that Gomez is an excellent, trustworthy student.
“I gave her this canvas just as something to do. It wasn’t for a project. It wasn’t for a competition. I just handed her a canvas and said just paint,” Carter said, “so she was able to express herself.”
Carter talked Gomez into entering the painting in VASE.
“I told her she would do really well, but I don’t think she was sure of it. She was very nervous,” Carter said. “She scored a 4, which is the highest ranking she could get. After her interview with the judge, she left before they judged for platinum, which is equivalent to state competition, but it’s our version of state (for middle school).”
Gomez said she thought Carter was lying when she told her she’d won the award. She was sleeping on her way up to a heart appointment in Lubbock when Carter called. Her dad woke Gomez up to talk to Carter and Carter told her about the award.
Gomez wasn’t convinced until she got the medal.
At first, Gomez helped Carter with Art Club after school. One day she didn’t have anything to do, so Carter handed her a canvas and paint.
Gomez said painting came back to her a little bit at a time.
“I mostly focused on sports, so I didn’t really have time for painting or anything,” she added.
But Carter said Gomez has a lot of natural artistic talent and noted that Gomez has to take at least one more year of art in high school. Gomez will be going to Odessa High School next fall.
Carter added that she knows all of Gomez’ art teachers, so she’ll be keeping an eye out when she moves on to OHS.
“In my opinion, she’s very shy. She doesn’t like to talk to a lot of people. I think with her artwork, what I’ve seen from her over the year, it’s her way to express herself. She’ll draw about her family or herself. But she doesn’t talk much about (it),” Carter said.
Gomez has an older brother, a younger brother and a younger sister.
Her family was proud of her accomplishment.
“She didn’t want to do the interview or have the award. I called her mom and got mom’s permission because she’s very reserved; very quiet,” Carter said.
Bowie Principal Amy Russell said she has been working with students this year to help them see their future and not just what’s in the here and now. She said Gomez was able to think about her options outside of sports and see what else was available to her.
“Thank goodness for our art teachers here, our special area teachers, that can provide an opportunity for kids to find a home, find a community in another part of education. I’m so proud of Ms. Carter for making it happen for (Gomez),” Russell said.
