Art a Way of Life for Award-Winning Simley Student Artist

Heather Ostertag is almost inseparable from her art.

At least according to her mother, Holly Ostertag, who said artistic pursuits like drawing, painting and photography are as much a part of the Simley High School senior as her arm or leg.

“It’s like an extension of her,” Holly Ostertag said of her daughter’s artwork. “I can’t imagine her without it.”

Heather Ostertag’s interest in art began in pre-school, but her devotion to creative perfection is just starting to pay dividends for the student: Earlier this month, she won a $500 scholarship through the St. Paul Jaycee’s Les Farrington Best 100 Juried Art Exhibition. As part of the competition, Ostertag and two other Simley artists, Jessica Degler and Victoria Peterson, were selected to have their work displayed in the AZ Gallery in Minneapolis through the end of March.

Art has been a lifelong pursuit for Ostertag, who is preparing to graduate this spring. It began with drawings of cartoon characters, cars and animals when Ostertag was young, and slowly evolved into complex charcoal drawings, painting and photography. This year, Ostertag is developing a series of 12 portraits on human emotion as part of her advanced AP Portfolio class. It was one of those portraits, a charcoal sketch of a man with his head in his hands, that caught the judges’ eyes in the “Best 100” contest. That piece, entitled “Depression,” earned Ostertag her $500 scholarship.

The portfolio series was something of a personal challenge for Ostertag, who said that it is difficult for artists to convey emotions without portraying a subject’s eyes.

Instead of relying on eyes to express emotion, Ostertag focused on other body language in her portraits — using a clenched fist to capture anger, for example.

Receiving the scholarship may have come as a surprise to Ostertag, but it didn’t surprise her mother, who said Ostertag’s attention to detail and ability to draw to scale are among her strengths as an artist.

 “When she went to pre-school, and even when I had a babysitter or something, they would always remark about her drawings and how detailed they were,” Holly Ostertag said of her daughter’s artwork.

Teacher Pat Gilbertson, who helped Ostertag enter her pieces in the “Best 100” competition, said the Simley student is extremely creative and has a strong sense of self-direction. Ostertag is one of 14 student artists participating in Gilbertson’s AP Portfolio class.

Ostertag, who already has her own art website, plans to pursue graphic design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Art is a way for her to express herself, she said.

“With drawing, you can create anything. It’s the same with painting, and with photography, you can just capture things that people might not really see,” Ostertag said. “I just love doing it, it’s kind of a release from life.”