On Thursday, May 21, two high school art students participated in the Law Day Art Awards at the Courthouse in Beaumont. Senior Sundas Imtiaz won fourth place in the contest out of 105 people and received a $250 check. Her painting featured the Statue of Liberty, Iwo Jima, the American Eagle and the Liberty Bell.

Imtiaz said she doesn’t know what she is going to do with the money yet but overall she’s very satisfied with the results of the contest.
“I did pretty good but I was really surprised,” Imtiaz said. “I’m really proud of myself.”

Imtiaz said she has always enjoyed arts and crafts. When she got into art class as a freshman, art teacher Betsy Kaufman took her in. According to Imtiaz, the most challenging part about painting is figuring out what to paint.
“I learned a lot from (Kaufman),” Imtiaz said. “I wasn’t that good at all but she taught me.”
Senior Brooke Tant won Honorable Mention with her painting featuring the Liberty Bell and a young boy saluting at a soldier’s grave. Her painting was inspired by the strength of America’s man-made and natural beauty. It took Tant a month to complete.
“Just being in the top 15 is pretty amazing to me,” Tant said.

According to Tant, the most challenging part about being an artist is getting people to buy her paintings. Also, she only has 45 minutes in art class, which can be difficult at times.
“It’s hard to fit painting into that small time frame,” she said.
Tant said she loves painting for a number of reasons – one of which is getting messy. She also enjoys putting the imaginary picture in her head onto the canvas. However, most of her ideas come from Pinterest.

“There’s not a person that inspires me to paint,” Tant said. “I just like it. It’s just me.”