By: Ainsley Northrop

People Editor 

Junior Avelene Celinski is not your typical LGHS student. Whether perfecting her art, diving into her classes, or enjoying her time as a resident of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Celinski is down to earth, shining with dedication and kindness. 

Celinski dedicates herself to art and currently takes Graphic Design 3 Honors. Since she was roughly six years old, Celenski followed her mother’s love for painting by becoming an artist. Outside of school, Celinski works at a local church in the Santa Cruz mountains as an assistant teacher for little kids. She described part of the job as “[sitting] down and [having] a lesson about…how God really wants everybody to be happy and if you’re not, there are always people in your life to guide you.” Celinski enjoys spending time with the kids and described how it rekindled her love for physical art: “One day we started painting and I sat down with a lot of the little kids who are just three years old…I got really happy that I was doing something with the kids and I was enjoying it and they were happy.”

While she enjoys creating many types of art, one of Celinski’s favorite techniques is watercolor painting. She detailed her newfound love for it, saying, “I got into [it] pretty recently, but [it’s] my favorite so far because I feel like I have the freedom to play around with the colors a lot more than if I’m working on the computer.” Celinski particularly enjoys painting eyes because of the power that a single eye can hold emotionally. She explained that eyes can reveal a lot about a person’s feelings and said, “If I can just stare at an eye and understand how it’s feeling, I feel happy that I created something.”

According to Celinski, the optimal time for painting is at exactly 6 PM. She reasoned, “It’s the time where it’s cold outside, it’s dark, and everybody [is] settled down in my house. It’s just quiet so I can just sit down and paint for a couple hours if I have the time.”

When she is not at church or hard at work with her art, Celinski enjoys spending time with friends and two cats, Misty and Biscuit. She further involves herself in activities such as lacrosse. Additionally, Celinski loves writing and explains, “I journal a lot…I like to kind of create things with my emotions if I’m feeling emotional that day.” Celinski and her family used to live in Australia, and although they have lived in Los Gatos for more than 12 years, they visit their family there as often as they can. Celinski adores seeing her little cousins in Australia and witnessing them grow up. 

Celinski approaches life with kindness and creativity that is evident to everyone she meets. Be sure to give this artistic junior a wave as she paints her way through the rest of high school.