“Heart to Art” is a column highlighting artists in the Redwood community. The column was created to represent the arts on a broader scale, appreciating student artists and their craft.

After a long and exhausting water polo practice, senior Livy Selden heads back home to relax. To decompress, she works on her latest art project: painting a friend’s surfboard. Having painted since she could write, art has not just become a creative outlet for Selden, but one of her greatest talents. 

Selden has been in the Advanced Placement (AP) Art class since junior year. Excelling from the beginning, Selden develops her unique designs by utilizing both painting and drawing outlets. 

AP Art teacher Lauren Bartone has taught Livy for the past three years, watching her art evolve and grow through her consistent work ethic in her class. 

“She always had strong drawing skills. She came into the class with that, but her confidence grew. I think because she was just doing [art] so much, [her confidence] grew a lot. She’ll bring her hard work ethic to whatever she does,” Bartone said. 

In addition to her swift progression in AP Art, Bartone also recognizes Selden’s personal style of art and the emotions she delivers through her pieces. 

 “She knew she liked to draw people. It was really clear looking at her finished body of work that she wants to show people, particularly in the way they like to negotiate a complicated world. She has a special sensitivity to perceiving the feelings of others,” Bartone said. 

Along with Selden’s involvement in AP Art, she also takes her artistic abilities outside of school. She has enjoyed using unconventional canvases in her artwork such as surfboards, water bottles and ukuleles since she first started painting on shoes. 

“I couldn’t figure out what shoes I was going to get, which was a big deal because I didn’t want to wear what everyone else was wearing because that would be lame. But I couldn’t pick a shoe so the person helping me pick shoes just told me to paint on them so that’s [where it started],” Selden said. 

Her close friend and fellow water polo player Gwen Kallmeyer is a big supporter of her artwork. Kallmeyer loves watching Selden’s work expand to gain a wider fanbase.

“[Her supporters] give her free reign to do what she wants because of how creative she is. She’s an amazing artist, and her work definitely deserves to be [recognized],” Kallmeyerr said. 

Selden’s talent and art have not only been noticed by her friends and family, but many others who have heard of her incredible art. She has had requests to make custom designs on various items such as skateboards and surfboards, which only fuel her love for art. 

“People seem to really enjoy [my art]. They are always happy when they see it and they give me compliments. That makes me happy,” Selden said.

Her commitment to art is something she has carried with her through most of her life and plans to continue after high school. Although she will not be studying art in college because of a decision to focus on environmental sciences, her friends predict she will continue working on her art in her free time. 

“I definitely expect her to keep pursuing art and making art because she’s very talented, one of the most talented artists [I have] ever seen. I’ve seen her do a lot of really cool things and try to make new things,” Kallmeyer said. “She’s never really satisfied with current works, which is good because it just makes her want to make more art.”