Art keeps Overbye busy as creativity overflows

“I probably have 13 projects going on – I’ve started them but I haven’t finished them,” said sophomore Griffin Overbye. “I have three or four books of sketches that I want to do and I always end up at the last second choosing something else to do and I have all these great ideas that I want to do but I am so busy.”

Overbye has had an interest in art ever since middle school art class with middle school art teacher Ronnie George. He found himself going in after school to work on his projects and even bringing some home. Today Overbye works on everything from painting to sculpting to making a promotional video for a new company.

“I’m not a very open person so I don’t like really like to tell people things. Art is a way of doing it without having to say it.”

When Overbye realized he loved working on art in class and coming in after school to work on projects and to talk to his art teacher he brought his new interest home. His parents let him use and extra room in their house for his art.

“This room was a sanctuary to me,” said Overbye. “I could express my creative ways through experimental mediums, without being judged.”

Although he has a whole room for his art Overbye doesn’t always work there.

“[I work] all over the house,” said Overbye. “I have things going on in the living room and in the kitchen.”

Overbye’s room is full of art supplies, making it a mess.

“I haven’t slept in my room in a year,” Overbye said. “I’ve slept all over the house, in the guest room, on the couch, just because my room was so full of supplies and stuff, it made me sick to be in there.”

Overbye’s freshman year he took art class with Nathan Stromberg. Although Stromberg only had him as a student for a short amount of time he recognized his talent and potential.

“Griffin is a highly creative and very confident artist,” said upper-school art teacher Nathan Stromberg. “He has a lot of prior experience to coming here[art class]”

Artists like Rob Appleby, Russ Mills, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Marion Bolognesi are inspirations to Overbye.

His older sister also supports him and sees that he has a lot of talent.

“Griffin’s art is amazing and spans so many different styles,” said Keely Overbye. “His talent is truly endless. His eye is ever changing and ever evolving.”

Overbye uses math skills to figure out how much supplies he needs. He spends time searching for the cheapest supplies that he can find. He recently made a chandelier out of music note sheets.

“I was interested in finding really old music note sheets. I went down to a local music store and they gave me a suitcase of music sheets for free,” said Overbye.

Overbye works on his art everyday, whether it be for ten minutes or hours. Working on his art isn’t something that he does quickly.

“It’s a really slow process, you have to be really patient because everything has to dry and cure,” said Overbye. “That’s why I have so many projects going on, because I’m not a very patient person.”

He hopes to keep working on his art and to become a well-known artist. In the future he hopes to assemble a style he can call his own.”

“I’m a very driven person and I want to be successful somehow and I think my art is a passageway to help me to get to do that,” said Overbye.

As an older sister, Keely Overbye had the chance to provide support for her younger brother in his aspirations. As an interior designer and style blogger she has an eye for artistic talent.

“I think Griffin’s art will carry him far. I would love to see him film movies, sell his art in galleries across the world, and hopefully continue to inspire other young people around him to do something creative,” said Ovebye. “Griffin’s art has a way of appealing to a broad spectrum of people.”

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