The 2007 Sacramento State Senior Art Show began on Monday and will run until May 24. An eclectic collection of art is exhibited by graduating seniors in the Robert Else Gallery in Kadema Hall. Everything from abstract sculptures to watercolors and pencils are on display. The 36 graduating seniors taking part pick one piece from their personal collection that stands out for the annual gallery.

A piece that catches the eye is an aluminum sculpture by Patricia Sokolowski called “Guardian.” The sculpture is an impressive pair of wings that span eight feet. Next to “Guardian” is “Art in Flight” by George Hope. His is a piece that accompanies Sokolowski’s by portraying the element of flight through watercolor and pencil.

“There is a real diversity in work from all the different students,” said Rob Rough, another graduate whose piece, “Twisted,” is on display in the gallery. Diverse is a good way to describe “Twisted.”

“I grew up in Ohio, so I have always been interested in extreme weather,” Rough said. This would explain “Twisted,” a mixed-medium piece that shows a tornado literally jumping off the wall at the observer.

“My teachers wanted me to tell them about what it would look like before and after a tornado had passed,” he said. “Then they wanted me to tell about what a tornado looked like from above.”

Rough started drawing when he was a child. His parents always encouraged him to draw. He was an art major in high school and in college before taking a 17-year break from school to move out to California and work in the art business.

“I worked in marketing and public relations for years at the Crocker Art Museum and the San Jose Museum of Art, but I wanted to get back to do what I loved,” he said. What he loved was his art, and it shows in “Twisted.”

“Twisted” is an even more impressive piece due to the fact that Rough completely started over on top of the original piece. “‘Twisted’ was a project gone bad,” he said. “One of the things the teachers have taught me here at Sac State is to let the piece lead me to where it wants to go. Learning that helped me keep going and not put a piece down.”

Rough didn’t give up on “Twisted,” and now he’s not giving up on school. He plans to attend the University of Texas in Austin as a graduate art student, and wants to eventually teach.

Opposite Rough’s “Twisted” is a piece called “Collaboration No. 1” by Carey Shaw. “Collaboration” is a hand-stitched quilt that took about 30 hours to complete. “I make my own pigments,” Shaw said while standing proudly next to her piece. “I used vegetables and spices to make my own paint.” She used beats, chard and turmeric for colors and a dyed cotton thread to stitch it together.

Shaw didn’t start out as an art student. “My major was family and consumer science,” she said. “I took an art class for a creative outlet and I loved it so much that I decided to change my major.”

Shaw wants her work to send a subtle message. “I use the earth as a natural resource, and I want to encourage people through my work to make green choices,” she said.

The gallery culminates on May 18 with an event known as the “Art Ball.” “Starting at 5:30 in the Kadema Hall courtyard, we will be celebrating not only seniors’ artwork, but all of the art students’ work,” said Ian Harvey, assistant professor in the art department. “We want to include as many students as possible.”

The event will include exhibits in the Edema and Witt galleries and the Library annex and the ASL culminating with a live band and refreshments. “All students are invited to join us for the art department’s climactic moment of the year,” Harvey said. Brandon Van Meter can be reached at [email protected]