This week’s Farmer Focus is Cameron Cates who spends most of his time drawing.

SNAPSHOTS

Favorite color: Gray

Favorite subject: Art or psychology

Favorite sport: Hockey

Summer or fall: Fall

Favorite candy: Snickers

ZOOMING IN

Q: What made you interested in art?

A: “As a kid my family was kind of like poorish so I didn’t really do much. I was kind of a shut-in and drew on copy paper. I just never stopped [drawing] so when I got into middle school they were like, ‘You can play instruments or you can draw.’ I [said] ‘I will draw’ and I never broke away from it.”

Q: Who has inspired you in your art?

A: “Mr. Champion from Killough is the biggest [inspiration] or people like Jackson Pollock, who is an artist.”

Q: Why is art important to you?

A: “[Art is important to me] because that’s the only thing I’m good at so I stick to it.”

Q: What has been the longest art project you’ve worked on?

A: “Probably about two years. I often worked on it and it’s a mural that is in my grandma’s house that I painted on one of the walls.”

Q: What has been your favorite piece of artwork you’ve done?

A: “I painted my girlfriend over the summer and I think that’s probably my favorite.”

Q: How do you keep up to date on your project/assignments?

A: “I don’t because I thought it would be smart to try to take AP on top of everything. [If you] try to keep up with that and be at time with everything and be a straight up A student, you’re going to fail in sanity; I might pass everything else but your sanity is just going to go by.”  

Q: What is your advice for other students who would like to join art?

A: “Just do it, it’s not hard to do. Just pick it up and don’t put it down.”

Q: Have you ever connected your artwork to your own life?

A: “Basically every time anyone makes any form of art whether it’s like an actual painting or drawing whatever, it’s a part of them. Something made them make that, whether they thought something was cool or it meant something.”

Q: What style of art do you identify with the most?

A: “Maybe someone or something like Van Gogh or like Neil Gaiman Sandman. I like those styles.”