Meet Tennyson

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Tennyson, a 17-year-old Junior at Monterey High School, has been a member of YAC for three years, since she first started her freshman year. She finds YAC to be “eye-opening, opportunity-giving, amazing, teaching, and totally inspirational.” Her favorite medium of art is pencil, seconded by watercolor, because of how easily accessible both of those are. Being a part of YAC has given her the opportunity to use a wider variety of tools and technologies.Tennyson’s first memory of art was, at age four, repeatedly doodling dragons in her sketchbook at Sunday school. Her fascination and infatuation with dragons has never ceased. In fact, she gains inspiration from monster movies, specially-cool monster movies, alien movies, specially-cool alien movies, dinosaurs, birds (especially those that are worthy of drawing) and stories; both those already told and ones that she makes up.Tennyson describes her work as “monstrous, strange and diverse,” and her most dynamic piece to date was a 3d sculpture of a “creature.” Her hope is that the audience will not only like her work, but will be a little creeped out by it. Her goal is that her viewers not feel the need to clarify or classify her work as, for example, “hybrid bird, dinosaur, lion, snake, thing” and that ultimately, it will appeal to their imagination and that they would desire to take it home as a pet.Tennyson describes herself as “curious, passionate, observant, motivated, and introspective.” She finds further inspiration from science, specifically natural history, reading, and learning from her peers. In ten years she would like to have attended college with a degree in natural history ideally with an emphasis on birds and paleontology. She really hopes to take classes wherein she would be able to draw and design - according to science - new animals, i.e. “make monsters.”That being said, Tennyson would love to work as a researcher plus digital concept designer and would love to have access to and knowledge of virtual reality 3D art. She would also love to create and stitch stuffie versions of her creatures. She desires to never, ever be bored and ultimately – honestly - wishes that she could be dragon.See more of Tennyson’s work here.