Young artist plans to teach

By kristine gill

kgill@vindy.com

austintown

Fitch High School senior Maxie Wirtz may not like her surrealist piece featuring a lion drinking out of a glass, but her teacher Patti Prentiss loves it.

After all, the work showcases what Prentiss finds most admirable of Wirtz, one of her best students who plans to pursue art after high school.

“Maxie is not one to shy away from color,” Prentiss said. “It’s one of the best things about her.”

The drawing, done with Prismacolor colored pencils, shows a lion squeezed into an hourglass-shaped cup. In the background, a sea of bright blues and greens is interrupted only by a snaking vine of similar shades.

Wirtz has studied art since kindergarten in the Austintown school system. She chose the course as an elective in high school when others gravitated toward choir or band.

“I’ve always liked art,” she said.

It wasn’t until her Art II class, which she took last year, that Wirtz recognized she was maturing creatively.

“Art II is when I finally started to look at projects and say, ‘I wish I would have done this or that,’” she said.

Wirtz isn’t a huge fan of the lion piece. What she loves most in her collection is a watercolor painting she did last year in her Art II class at the school. The assignment was to paint something from the still-life display Prentiss put together.

Wirtz painted a pair of brown work boots with red laces. Light blues and greens comprise the rest of the painting.

Wirtz was hesitant to use a black fine-tip marker to define the boots after finishing the watercolor portion, but Prentiss was able to convince her of the technique required for the assignment.

“I was afraid I was going to ruin it,” Wirtz said. “If I had argued, she wouldn’t have made me.”

Wirtz was sure to use the weakened black markers for less-bold lines, and the result was a pleasing mix of form and flow. The black lines follow the brush strokes rather than direct them.

Wirtz said she prefers painting to other techniques and also has used acrylics. Last summer, she came in twice a week after school to help Prentiss and a few other students complete a class mural on a wall outside their classroom.

The mural was a reproduction of Henri Rousseau’s “Surprised! Tiger in a Tropical Storm,” which features a tiger creeping through a darkened yet colorful jungle of rich foliage wearing a frightened look. Wirtz painted the leaves and tree in the impressive remake.

“I think ours is better than the one we copied,” Wirtz said.

Wirtz hopes to attend college in Ohio and is looking at Ohio State University, Miami University and Univeristy of Toledo to pursue a degree in art education.

“I want to work with kids while at the same time not being totally bored with it,” said Wirtz, who hopes to teach high school students.

Prentiss knows Wirtz is up for the challenge of an art degree.

“She has a tremendous work ethic and such integrity,” Prentiss said. “I think she’s very bright and has that attention to detail.”

She’s thrilled by Wirtz’s career choice.

“I’m really flattered when one of my students wants to be an art teacher because it means they want to be like you in a way,” said Prentiss, who earned her degree in art education at Youngstown State University. She has been an art teacher for 31 years. She’s spent 19 of those years at Fitch High School.

Wirtz said Prentiss has been instrumental in her growth and career choice.

“She’s great,” Wirtz said of her teacher. “She’s like a mom to me at school.”