‘I can still remember her in a green smock in kindergarten’
Warwick. Superintendent’s Artist of the Week: Jamison McVeigh
| 01 Nov 2021 | 08:09
Warwick Valley Middle School eighth grader Jamison McVeigh is a Superintendent's Artist of the Week. Photos by Tom Bushey/Warwick Valley School District.
A close-up of a piece of art created by Warwick Valley Middle School eighth grader Jamison McVeigh. Jamison’s favorite art project this year was a self-portrait in the style of Tim Burton using pencil and colored pencil.
Beauty, the saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder.
For some Warwick Valley Middle School art classes, however, beauty was in the eye created by eighth grader Jamison McVeigh.
Art teacher Julie Cosco gave her students an assignment to draw an eye and color the pupil using the primary colors. But after seeing Jamison’s version of the eye, Cosco had all of her students use that as a model.
“I changed the whole lesson because I loved her drawing so much,” Cosco said. “I showed them her drawing and talked about her to all my eighth grade classes. I had everybody do all of these lines inside the iris and I had them do more flicks in the eyelashes. I just thought her style was so cool that I changed my lesson because of that.”
Jamison has been drawing since she was around three years old, but said she obviously wasn’t that good in the beginning when she started out creating stick figures of her family. Eventually Jamison began looking up drawing tutorials online and then taking private art lessons.
Jamison’s favorite art project this year was a self-portrait in the style of Tim Burton using pencil and colored pencil. In the future, Jamison plans to continue with art, possibly as a career.
“When I’m in high school I want to take all of the art electives,” she said. “I also want to go to college for art. Being an art teacher would be really fun, or maybe I’ll do something in graphic design. I’m not really sure.”
Cosco has had Jamison in her class three times: in kindergarten, in fifth grade and now in eighth grade.
“I’ve seen her grow through the years,” Cosco said. “I can still remember her in a green smock in kindergarten. Jamie is a phenomenal and well-rounded student who is liked and respected by her peers. Jamie has aspirations of continuing art as a profession and I recommended that she pursue a career as an art teacher. I even told her that I would love for her to be my student-teacher someday. I can’t wait to see the artwork that she creates in the future.”
Jameson also enjoys writing; ELA is her favorite class. Her other activities at WVMS include singing in the chorus and playing modified lacrosse.