Knight Errant: How long have you been working with clay?
Lilly Johnson: I’ve done clay for three years, but I suppose my concentration is warping the traditional teapot into something more abstract and modern.So right now, and for the past year, I have only been making teapots.

KE: What inspires you?
LJ: Other artists, but most of the time I just wing it; if I make something I like, I can or it feels right.

KE: Is art a hobby or more to you?
LJ: I draw a lot and doodle a lot, so I guess that is more of a hobby; but with clay I’m more invested in it and now am more about trying to see what I can do and what I can manipulate and create and such, now that I’ve mastered the basics.

KE: What’s your favorite piece you’ve made?
LJ: My favorite clay piece is the one I just made that is three feet tall, but I haven’t glazed it yet so I don’t know how it will turn out, but I’m excited about it. Again, I also just love any teapot piece. There are so many opportunities and possibilities to decide on with that one.

Knight Errant: What kind of art do you make?
Nick Gionet: Realism is my main area of focus, but I like to do metamorphosis too: things that start as one thing but change to another.

KE: How long have you been drawing?
NG: I grew an interest in drawing in second grade but I started realism and metamorphosis in about seventh or eighth grade.

KE: Why did you start drawing?
NG: My mom and brother are super creative, and I really like to draw as well; they got me into it.

KE: What inspires you?
NG: I like to look at what other people do, especially at BSM,  then I put my own twist on what has already been done. It has to be specific to me, though.

KE: Is art a hobby or more to you?
NG: It is more because I am trying to get a scholarship for college, and it has become gradually more important to me over the years.

KE: What’s your favorite piece you’ve made?
NG: It is a picture of Marilyn Monroe and half of the face is a skeleton, it is super dark and mysterious.

KE: What are you working on right now?
NG: Right now, I am currently doing a piece of a zebra. Half of it is a zebra and half is like a cyborg bionic body.

Knight Errant: How long have you been taking photos?
Sophie Weber: Two years

KE: What got you into photography?
SW: I’ve always had somewhat of a creative eye, and my own drawing abilities never met my own expectations, so that got me into photography.

KE: What inspires you?
SW: People who clearly have a story to tell without having to say anything.

KE: Is art a hobby or more to you?
SW: It started as a hobby, but it sort of just transformed into something else. When I shoot creatively, not always what I see but in a more creative sense, I feel as though I’m expressing myself in a way that I want to.

KE: What are you working on right now?
SW: I’m currently working on my painting for the most part, but photography wise it’s mostly been class projects, which I don’t enjoy as much because it doesn’t give me as much room to express my creativity.

Knight Errant: How long have you been painting?
Rachel Jungmann: Three years

KE: Why did you start/what got you into this type of art?
RJ: I was doing drawing at the same time but I wanted to try something new. I prefer painting because you can create the images yourself instead of using a picture.

KE: What inspires you?
RJ: I like doing things based off of fairy tales and exploring those images and changing them.

KE: Is art a hobby or more to you?
RJ: It’s a form of expression—it’s more than a hobby; it’s how I express myself, it relieves stress. It’s one of the few parts of my day that doesn’t stress me out.

KE: What’s your favorite piece you’ve made?
RJ: My recent favorite piece is a Cinderella one with a giant fabric skirt. It was really detailed and I really enjoyed the big poofy skirt and painting her shoes all crystally. I used a bunch of different techniques that I have been developing.

KE: What are you working on right now?
RJ: I’m doing a geometric piece because I really enjoyed doing the glass slipper on the last one and wanted to explore that technique.

Knight Errant: How long have you been sculpting?
Matt Bonvino: I have been working with polymer clay for a really long time, about since I’ve been in third grade, and I just picked it up again in twelfth grade and I have made lots of military miniatures so that’s where focusing on detail became important to me.

KE: What got you into clay?
MB: I’ve always been fascinated in making my own interpretations on a character or something like that so it’s basically an interpretation of something that already exists.

KE: What inspires you?
MB: Right now, works of other character designs that I really like. So a lot of video games is what a lot of my work is based off of.

KE: What’s your favorite piece you’ve done?
MB: When I make my pieces, I put so much time into each one that is really hard to distinguish which one I like over another one because I put a lot of time into each one. It’s about two weeks sketching what I’m going to do, and then many more weeks to make the piece, so you get an attachment with each one you do so it makes it hard for me to answer that question because I like all of them.

KE: What are you working on right now?
MB: Right now, since Mrs. Puffer isn’t currently at Benilde, I am teaching the Clay I students.

KE: Isn’t there a sub?
MB: They do [have one], but he’s more of a wheel guy, so I’m teaching them in hand. I think that’s another good thing, you don’t want to keep your skills to yourself, it’s always good to spread it around and spread what you know.