The beauty found in art holds a type of creativity that cannot be told with mere words.

So, as Art students pick up their pencils and stare at blank paper, they wait for the spark that ignites the magic.

Recently, the school’s Art Foundations students have taken their art to new levels; sand and Reflections.

This year, the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival featured aesthetic beauty in sand sculpture displays made by students. This annual arts and crafts fair opened its door for locals and tourists alike to view work from not only professional artists with their own businesses, but local high school students as well.

Students who took part in the festival experienced a new artistic perspective in many different voices, as told by the sand sculptures.

“It was a great collective display of current professional artists and prospective students to that field and it was amazing to be a part of it all,” senior April Porter said.

As the Neptune Festival and all of its artistic treasures have ended, Art classes are preparing to pour their creativity into this year’s Reflections contest.

The Reflections contest consists of various categories including: music, dance, visual arts, and more. Thus, through this year’s theme, “Believe, Dream, Inspire,” Art students have their chance to show their skills through their particular brand of art.

“The Reflections contest is really cool, but I wish they had more categories for me to invest in,” junior Anna Radcliffe said.

Freshman Liz Korte is ready to “go hard” into the Reflections contest this year. With the given categories, she is exploring the infinite possibilities to display her work of art.

“I haven’t decided on what I will do this year, but I know it’s going to be great,” Korte said.

Besides preparing for the contest, Art Foundations students are practicing the basic foundations of art itself.

Students can be seen sketching the hallways, using basic shapes, figures, and dimensions. Art teacher Cathy Opfer oversees her students each class, adding constructive criticism when needed, as well as words of praise.

“There is no such thing as a line, it’s just about light and dark values coming together,” Opfer said. “That is art.”