Jeffrey B. Haskett has been painting since the age of 5.

His love for art continued throughout his life and well into college. Now he is a senior here at USI and has two pieces displayed in the 2011 Senior Seminar Art Exhibition. His submitted pieces are intended to tell a lesson. One, titled “Ecosystem,” is a painting of a large bass fish about to swallow a bull frog illustrates part of the circle of life. A second piece titled “Midnight Fishing with a Lucky #13” depicts a memory of his father taking him fishing.

This is his last time his work will be shown at USI, and Haskett has a  bittersweet feeling of graduating.

“I’ll miss it (college) because of the friends I have made,” he said. 

The 2011 Senior Seminar Art Exhibition is currently being held in the lower level of the Liberal Arts building through Dec. 11.

The event opens daily at 10 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m. This is a no-cost event that showcases many senior art students’ work at USI.

Like Haskett, this is the last time many students art will be displayed on campus.

With this being her last show, Linda Volz described a melancholy feeling.

“It’s bittersweet because some pieces I wanted to be entered weren’t finished in time,” she said while working on a painting of her son.

Volz prefers to focus on artwork depicting relationships. One submission shows the relationships between various countries, while the unfinished pieces illustrate the connection between family members. Her piece titled “Hands That Talk” – a portrait of her mother-in-law – won best in show at the Women Inspired Art Show, and was submitted into the exhibit. Volz will be graduating in December and hopes to find a gallery to work at.

Jamie Williams, although also a senior, will be returning for one class in the spring and plans to enter a show in March.

Jamie Williams submitted three pieces into the exhibit. Her artwork is intended to bring awareness to common-day issues. One piece showcases a girl bound at the ankles with an apple in her mouth to symbolize the feast, and how women are typically viewed in society.

Williams prefers contemporary pieces filled with irony, sarcasm and anti-abuse perspectives.

“There is less of a lesson, and more of a conversation,” she said.

Williams said she did not want others to adopt her own opinion, but she hoped her art would be a gateway for the audience to share their own. Williams will be returning in the spring to take a painting class, and will be eligible to enter the student show in March.