Ever since Taylor Bennett could draw she knew she wanted to become an artist.

“I kept working at it and rarely changed my mind about working outside of art,” said Bennett, a junior 2-D studio art major.

Bennett won two awards at the Art Awards Reception held at the Tarble Arts Center on Sunday afternoon.

The students submitted works are on display in the Tarble Art Center main galleries and eGallery through the end of March.

The Art Department has had this art show for 25 years.

Awards were given for academic and creative accomplishments. These awards were chosen by the Art Department. Other awards were given by a group of judges for the All-Student exhibition. The judges were Randy Carlson, Bradley University; Steven Hudson, Parkland College; and John Sherman, Notre Dame University.

Bennett won Honorable Mention for a drawing called “Proudmoore” and a Merit Award for a print called “Vanity”.

“My inspirations change on a whim,” Bennett said. “‘Proudmoore’ is inspired by fantasy, magical, mystical heroes that have a hint of some sort of spiritual aura.”

Bennett said “Vanity” was inspired by women and their obsession with beauty and perfection.

For Bennett, art is sometimes used as an emotional escape.

“I tend to put a part of me into my art whether it is my physical appearance, my opinions, or stories from my life,” Bennett said. “It can make me feel angry, confused, sad, happy, amused, or even reflective of things about myself.”

The award made Bennett realize that she is going in the right direction with her artwork.

“Winning these awards help push me to work harder and top myself for next years show,” Bennett said.

Bennett wants to stay challenged with her artwork and is currently working on including more objects and backgrounds into her drawings. She also is involved with more 3-D classes such as weaving and jewelry making.

Dan McLaughlin, a senior 3-D Studio art and art education major, won the Merit award for ceramics.

His piece is called “Coral Tubes.”

McLaughlin gets some inspiration from nature but admitted his inspiration changes with each piece.

“When I tend to work with the materials, I change my ideas as the piece is developing,” said McLaughlin. “Art makes me feel good about myself when I finish a piece, but also developing the concepts behind them can be a challenging and rewarding task.”

Winning this award gave me a sense of accomplishment, said McLaughlin.

After winning the merit award for ceramics, McLaughlin plans on working on more pieces.

“With a Studio art major, we are always working on new pieces, but I am going to continue creating pieces as I have been in the past, and look for new inspiration to help me along the way,” McLaughlin said.

Ashley Mefford can be reached at 581-7942 or at almefford@eiu.edu.