Meet CE 2019 Student Art Show People’s Choice Winner, Kame Kotapati


People's Choice "Under the Sea" by Kame Kotopati

North Seattle College Continuing Education 2019 Student Art Show People’s Choice Winner, Kame Kotapati, came to the program several years ago with little background in the arts. Exploring creative self-expression in a class environment requires a great deal of bravery, but as responses to Kotapati’s winning painting “Under the Sea” demonstrate, that bravery was rewarded.  “I come from an engineering background but I was always interested in art,” she says. “This is my first exploration of it. When I took my first CE art class, I realized that for me art is a form of relaxation.”

Kotapati’s watercolor on paper piece garnered considerable positive feedback from its use of color and depth,

“Green, dense details. Nice art!!”
“Color, consistency of technique.”
“The blending of greens.”
“It has a lot of depth.”
“Nice use of colors. A unique design.”

For several years Kotapati has explored numerous CE watercolor and drawing classes, steadily building her confidence with the experience. She says this never would have happened without the ongoing support of her teachers. “The instructors are not only knowledgeable and talented, but also know how to impart their knowledge so that students can learn and find their own voice,” she says. “I have taken Watercolors for Everyone and Drawing with Confidence classes several times with Susan Schneider, who introduced me to watercolors and made me fall in love with them. Virginia Paquette introduced me to Abstract Watercolors and has me so intrigued that I want to explore more.”

In addition to the support and encouragement she personally received from her instructors, Kotapati says her instructors did a great deal to establish a safe and supportive creative space. “The environment in the classroom was very creative and encouraging,” she says.  “(For example) Virginia set aside a portion of the Abstract Watercolor class for reviewing everyone's work. During this time, the instructor and students had a chance to look at every piece of art and comment on what was working and what was not. I learned a lot from this portion of the class, and also got to connect with fellow students and share ideas with them.”

It was precisely this sharing of ideas that led Kotapati to experiment beyond familiar media, the finest example of which is her People’s Choice piece. “My painting 'Under the Sea' was completely painted using twigs gathered from the NSC courtyard,” she says. “Our instructor Virginia pushed us to put paint on paper by only using these twigs and think beyond two dimensions of the paper.” In addition, the natural environment came into play when it came to color and texture. “In painting this piece, I was also inspired by the green in nature, and also drew inspiration from the sea to create a sense of depth in the painting.”

Though working in drawing and painting has been a revelatory experience for Kotapati, she admits a particular fondness for watercolor. “Working in watercolors is a meditative process for me. When I work on a piece, I am able to look within myself so that I can project images I see in my mind's eye onto paper.”

Kotapati looks forward to returning to her favorite classes each quarter and the opportunity to further explore her creative self-expression. I keep coming back to NSC CE and taking more classes due to the high quality of the classes, and the instructors who teach them. In my opinion the instructors are a major draw.”

Are you currently enrolled in a CE art class? Remember work done in class is eligible for consideration for next year’s Student Art Show.