Throughout her years at ACP-Erie, Farah Eltohamy (pictured to the left) stunned her fellow high schoolers with her astonishing artwork and charming personality.

Farah took AP Studio Art in both junior and senior year, and after some thinking, she decided to take on the task of the AP Portfolio (a rigorous process in which 24 art pieces are developed over a span of two years). She received a final score of a 4 on her portfolio – an outstanding score.

I actually attended class with Farah and adored her art, so I decided to contact her and ask her if she could send me any of her art pieces. She confirmed with me, showed me one of her paintings that was included in her portfolio, and allowed me to ask her a few questions about her work.

In our interview, I asked her to elaborate on the technique in her painting and explain its significance.

She enthusiastically wrote back to me and told me, “This is one of my favorite pieces from my senior year portfolio!

“The story is that I actually started it junior year, but I eventually gave up on it. A school year later, I found the piece in my unfinished work pile, and I was confused as to why I lost motivation on a piece with so much potential. I picked it up and inspiration that I didn’t have at first came back to me all at once!”

She continued by saying, “So, I quickly finished up the piece (which, by the way, is watercolor) and added embellishments with acrylic, colored pencil, & gold ink. I am very proud of the final results. My words of advice to any other artists are: if you find yourself losing motivation or inspiration while working on a piece (and trust me, I’ve been there MILLIONS of times), don’t be afraid to step back away from the piece for a while! When you come back to it later, you might be more refreshed, and all the inspiration will start pouring in.”

When I questioned her about the significance of her painting, she told me, “The piece represents the concept of a person who does not feel beautiful, so she surround herself with beauty. As you can already tell, the background is quite scenic and dreamlike, while the subject’s body language indicates that she feels dejected and unaware of what is around her due to feelings of low self esteem and doubt from within herself.

“She’s holding a dandelion since we all know that dandelions don’t last forever! Her structure just crumbles away with the breeze, so it represents those fleeting moments of feeling secure with yourself (or in this case: beautiful).”

She ended the interview by informing me, “The actual title of this piece is called ‘Ephemeral Worth.’ Ms. Krom and I spent a long time deciding on a name until we stumbled upon the word “ephemeral” which means ‘lasting for a very short time.'”

I have always admired Farah as both an artist and a person. She is a talented, kind, and comfortable individual to be around, and when I was in AP Studio Art class with her, I was able to experience her wonderful and joyful personality as we worked alongside each other. I wish Farah luck in college and expect many amazing achievements from her.

Farah’s art piece is pictured at the very top.