For Meghan Fickes, stress is fuel for her art.

Creating the pieces needed for an Advanced Placement Art portfolio requires long hours of focus. Hershey High School junior Meghan Fickes channels both a passion for art and the stress of deadlines to create evocative art. For Fickes, art is life.

Fickes knew from a very young age that she was interested in art. Ever since her preschool years, Fickes has been attracted to expression through art, and her early beginnings made art become more than just a hobby.

“I’ve been doodling and creating things for as long as I can remember,” Fickes said. “Art has been a part of me and something I love dearly.”

Once she entered grade school, Fickes was very involved in the many art programs offered at HHS. She also continued past the mandatory classes in elementary and middle school to take the various art electives offered at the high school.

Now a junior, Fickes is enrolled in the most rigorous art program, AP drawing. According to Fickes, almost every week, the artists begin a new project to add to their college portfolio, and 75 percent of their projects get done outside of school.

Along with the time crunch comes the stress to finish her projects. However, Fickes embraces the stress needed to get her work done.

“I like to think of AP drawing as a good type of stress since I love art and am very passionate about what I do,” she said.

She also said that this year, and throughout her high school career, the art teachers have been very helpful in giving constructive criticism and guidance in her projects.

“It is nice to have such caring teachers to bounce ideas off and support me through AP drawing,” she said.

One struggle the challenging year has brought her is dealing with the ideas and inspirations in her head and coming up with a project idea. Fickes said that the creative process for her is a whirlpool of ideas and emotions.

Even though the ideas appear abstract in her head, Fickes said that the key for her is being able to refine her thoughts and use criteria from her projects to finalize her thoughts.

“It is a matter of pulling out and refining specific ideas from my mind and getting it down on paper,” she said.

Her passion in the arts and the AP Drawing program has brought her to experiment with various styles and mediums in her own projects. According to Fickes, she’s been able to use materials not normally used in art, as well as experiment with her own interests.

“One of my favorite styles is surrealism,” she said, “which involves mixing real life scenarios in a dream-like state.”

In addition to the projects, one of the best things about art for her is seeing different perspectives in the projects of other artists. She is amazed by how everyone sees things differently, and is fascinated by the various ways people express what they see through their art.

“No two artists are the same in their styles or ideas,” Fickes said. “The individuality of a work truly shows the uniqueness of the artist.”

Like every artist, Fickes has experienced various struggles and setbacks in her artistic journey. Other than the struggles that come along with the art curriculum such as harsh grading and time constraints, Fickes has faced internal struggles that have been setbacks throughout her life.

“A major setback in my art journey has been feeling inadequate compared to other artists talent and skill,” she said.

However, according to Fickes, overcoming self doubt showed her how different everyone’s perspective of art is, which she has now come to appreciate.

Fickes said that she wants to continue her passion for art in the future by attending art school. She hopes to major in either graphic design or illustration.

However, Fickes said that she’ll always go back to what she’s loved ever since preschool.

“I will always be a sketcher and doodler no matter what I decide to major in,” she said.

No matter where her passion decides to take her, Fickes knows that she will continue to strengthen her artistic abilities and love for art in the future. She also hopes to continue to develop her own unique style.

“I’ve learned to just keep doing what I like and developing my own style even though it doesn’t look like someone else’s,” she said, “ it’s my own and that is what is awesome about creating art and being a unique individual.”