The Spartist of the Month for October 2019 is Tatiana Fernandez. She has always been a creative person, even as a little kid. For Christmas, she would ask for colored pencils or sketchbooks for her projects. Tatiana started to develop her artistic style throughout middle school and high school. She specializes in many mediums, including colored pencil, charcoal, and ink. She started with a realistic style and, as time went on, she started to incorporate symbolism in her pieces to make them hyper realistic. She started freshman year in Introduction to Art, but by second semester she was moved up to a higher level art class, Painting. From there, she continued to take art classes throughout high school. Her junior year she took AP Studio Art. She developed her portfolio over the school year. The theme of her portfolio was about looking behind the curtains and putting yourself into someone else’s shoes. She received a 5 for her portfolio, which is the highest score that someone can receive. She is currently taking AP Studio Art again and is developing a new portfolio. Tatiana continues her art outside of school hours. She participates in art extracurricular activities, including Photojournalism Club and Visual Art Clubs. She has also received multiple awards for artwork. She has been featured in the Moraine Valley Art Show many times. She has received second place for her work in ink and has received multiple honorable mentions. Tatiana was also awarded a scholarship through the Academy of Art for a summer program. Her favorite artwork is a drawing she titled Barricade. She wanted to show that even if life gets tough and you begin to struggle, you have the strength to move forward. She drew this piece in red ink in order to make it stand out and to move away from the typical black ink. After high school, she plans to go to an art school to continue her education in art.