For some students, art is just a class that fulfills a graduation requirement and a period during the day. But for senior Claire Lyhus, it fulfills her passion for creativity and imagination, and is one of the most important parts of her day.

Lyhus is currently an IB Art Higher Level (HL) student, and enjoys drawing and painting in her free time, as well as frequently contributing work to this newspaper, the Rampage. She found a passion for art at a young age and has been drawing and sketching since.

“[Art] is just like a relaxer. When I have a brush in hand and it’s just me and the canvas, I don’t think about anything else,” Lyhus said. “I’m very detail-oriented, so that’s all I think about.”

Her favorite medium to work with is acrylic paint, and she has recently been experimenting with adding water to give it a more flowy effect, similar to watercolor.

Lyhus often takes her artwork out of the conventional classroom and incorporates nature into her artwork, and even paints on tree stumps at Lake Frank, where she said friends have been able to spot her work. She has been going to the lake since she was young, she said, and one day was painting there and decided to move from the paper to the rocks and stumps around her.

When she’s not exploring nature in her art, Lyhus likes to create surrealist pieces, and looks to Salvador Dali as an influence.

“Claire is pretty ambitious as an artist, she doesn’t just go with the same old, expected things,” IB art teacher Connie Zammett said. “She thinks pretty deeply about things.”

Lyhus is also the president of the RHS chapter of the National Art Honor Society (NAHS). As leader of the group, she plans meetings, organizes events and coordinates with other officers, members and faculty. This year, Lyhus’ plans for the group to make a mural for the school.

“She’s super organized, she’s really nice and patient with everybody, she always has new ideas and she’s a really good leader,” NAHS vice president and senior Vivian Mammen said.