Because Walsh Jesuit is home to so many students who are gifted in the arts, The Pioneer presents this Artist-of-the-Month series as a showcase for talented artists and performers.

Margo Pivonka, a WJ senior and this month’s featured artist, is well known for her volleyball skill, but her amazing artistic talent remains lesser known. Margo’s creativity and passion are evident in her art.

She develope a love for art at a young age and was even featured on a TV news segment in fourth grade for some of her drawings. Her infatuation for art grew during her freshman year of high school in Ms. Forfia’s Art Appreciation class. There she learned ways to explore different art forms and media. Every day for forty minutes she was able to express her unique interpretations, seen especially in her portraits.

Margo enjoys painting, preferably acrylics, more than any other form of art. She said, “Painting is my favorite because I like mixing the paints and blending them on a canvas.” Her favorite piece so far is an impressionistic portrait of Heath Ledger, a personal idol. She used simple colors and brush strokes to convey Ledger’s strong features, straying away from the idea of the typical portrait. She also does a great deal of drawing, which she enjoys just as much as painting. Some of her drawings are surrealistic and convey emotions through objects and concepts not usually associated with those feelings.

Artistic talent runs in the family, as her great grandfather was a proficient architect. She said, “ I never met him, but I have two of his huge drawings of buildings, and I get a lot of inspiration from those.” Like her great-grandfather, she draws inspiration from American artist Andy Warhol, whose work flourished in the 1960s with the rise of celebrity culture. She admires his original pop art style and the way he boldly expressed creativity through his art.

Margo plans to continue her education next year to Georgetown University in Washington, DC., where she has committed
to play volleyball. Not only is she gifted in the arts, but athletics as well. She has not decided what she wants to study in college but is interested in business and fashion. No matter what, she plans to pursue art as a hobby and stress reliever. With all she has going for herself, her future looks very bright.