Isabella Bertollini, ’17, exhibits her passion for the arts most overtly through her performances in the plays and musicals at WJ, but she also is skilled in drawing, painting and physical art forms.

Isabella’s love for art was cultivated by her grandmother who is also an artist and has been teaching Isabella how to draw ever since she was a child. Art remained her favorite class throughout elementary school, but Isabella revealed that she “really started to develop [her] own personal style in high school.”

One of the biggest influences for her work is singer/songwriter Paul Simon. Listening to his 1980s folk album “Graceland” lets her “drown out the outside world” in order to focus on her art. In particular, she was able to draw inspiration from the meaningful lyrics and unique sounds of the album.

At Walsh Jesuit Isabella has enjoyed Sculpture and Honors Art where she learned about new media and proper techniques. Isabella believes that Honors Art, in particular, has introduced her to many obscure media that she never would have known existed. Art teacher Ms. Cheril Walker attested to Isabella’s growth throughout her class, observing, “She has developed her exploratory skills and is now drawn to more experimental mediums.”

Photo transfer and wire sculpture have provided intriguing options for Isabella’s artistic expression. However, her all-time favorite is mixed media, a conglomerate of several different media used for one piece of art. She explained, “I love to combine collage and my own ink drawings to make something that is new and unique.”

Isabella’s talents are undeniable as one of her favorite pieces was selected for exhibition at the Xavier University juried art competition. The piece was titled “Drowning in a sea of words” (featured in this article). Isabella commented, “Not only is that one of my best pieces compositionally, but I really think it captures the sad emotions I was trying to convey.” She stated that it took about a month to capture the emotional nature and intricate designs of the piece.

As of now, Isabella does not intend to major in art in college, but she is certain that she will continue her creative pursuits as much as she can in the future. Art has always been a part of her life, and she looks forward to using it as a form of expression and a stress- reliever no matter what path her career takes.