By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Staff Writer 

HELENA – A boy dips his paintbrush into a vibrant green pot and confidently sweeps the color across the page. Meanwhile, two young girls chatter away as they weave friendship bracelets, and another child presses marker to paper, brow furrowed in deep concentration.

This scene of controlled chaos represented the culmination of a week full of lessons and techniques at the Helena High School art camp which ran from Monday, July 22 to Friday, July 26.

The art camp catered to two different age groups that met at two different times. In the mornings, children aged 6-11 completed several fun projects while kids aged 12-18 gathered in the afternoons for more in-depth instruction.

According to HHS art teacher Sommer Simpson, teaching both age groups was very different, but she enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many young artists.

“It’s exciting for me to get to meet kids in the community that are interested in art,” Simpson said. “Hopefully, when they get up to be high school aged, I’ll have watched them grow up and get better at their art.”

The younger age group completed two to three projects a day, with some being indoor projects such as watercolor landscapes and some being outdoor projects such as a sidewalk chalk art competition.

Simpson shared that the most popular project was the pet portrait painting, while her favorite was bubble painting, featuring dyed bubbles that create interesting patterns when blown on the page.

Meanwhile, the afternoon classes with the older kids operated very different. Unlike the morning group which had structured lesson plans, the older students were given the space to pursue their own artistic interests.

“I’m just trying to teach (the younger kids) different techniques and get them exposed to different types of materials,” Simpson said. “The older kids, I’m trying to get them prepared for taking an AP class one day, so I’m teaching them a little bit about what is involved in creating a portfolio like being creative, thinking outside the box.”

After going over a few different techniques, Simpson would allow the students to try and implement those techniques in whichever kind of project they desired.

At the end of the week, both age groups returned home with a small portfolio of all their work over the week.

Those interested in learning more about the summer camp offerings at Helena High School can visit Podcasts.shelbyed.k12.al.us/hlhs-athletics/summer-camps.