By Belinda Nolan
CHELSEA Rouse has only recently begun studying graphic art, but the teenager is already turning heads with her artistic skills.
The Year 11 student at Bayside Secondary College in Newport, was named a finalist in the 2008 Australian Academy of Design Poster Prize Competition.
Chelsea, also from Newport, was nominated for the award for her unique interpretation of the theme “close encounters of a public transport kind”.
“I did a sort of graphic design. I had a picture of a train…Using PhotoShop, I just drew over the top of it and made it look like a cartoon and then sort of made the background black so it stood out. I found a list of all the train stations in Victoria and put the names in faded font in the background.”
Chelsea studies a multimedia course as part of a vocational training program.
When her teacher passed around competition details in class, Chelsea never expected she would end up a finalist in the award.
“I had some spare time, so I thought I’d enter. I never thought I’d hear from them, but then I got an email back saying I had made it to the short list so that was a bit exciting.”
Chelsea was one of just 28 finalists in Victoria, quite an achievement for the first year design student.
The winners were announced and entries exhibited at an opening night last Wednesday at the Academy’s Port Melbourne gallery.
Although she didn’t win, the 16-year old said the experience of being nominated more than made up for the lack of a prize.
“ I didn’t expect to even be among the finalists so it was fantastic to be accepted. I think the appraisal of being a finalist from an academy of design is good enough for me. It’s great for my portfolio.”
Chelsea said she took inspiration for her art from everyday things.
“When I see a television show or listen to music, these are things that inspire me. I guess I just go with what looks good. I like to do things differently. I don’t follow the crowd. For me, being able to interpret things differently from other people is easy through the medium of graphic design.”
The exhibition is open to the public until 26 July.
For more information call 9676 9000.
