A Tale of Two Artists

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Nisa and Neva Gure in the Studio Art room.

Late in the afternoon, Nisa and Neva Gure sit together under the portico after soccer practice. Still wearing cleats and shinguards, each rests a sketchbook in her lap and has a pencil in her left hand. The identical twin sisters have quiet and reserved demeanors that disguise the expressive and emotional sketches coming to life in their notebooks. 

Watching them work side by side, it is easy to assume their art is as similar in appearance as they are. However, when one takes a closer look, it is evident that each has a method and style of her own. 

Their work is partly inspired by their favorite impressionist artists–Vincent Van Gogh, Ibrahim Çallı, and Monet. Like these pioneers in art history, Nisa and Neva are willing to take risks and color outside of the lines in the creative process. 

Studio Art teacher Liz Herlevsen expounds: “Neither shies away from difficulty and instead, they persevere in their efforts until they are satisfied with their work. It quickly became clear that under their quiet demeanor, they each had a notable strength of character, and a world of ideas, experiences, and opinions. How they express this is where they began to really set themselves apart from each other and the typical artist.”

The artwork of Nisa and Neva Gure tells the tale of two artists. We sat down with them as they worked one afternoon to learn more: 

When did you first become interested in art? 

Nisa:

I think I was in third grade when I realized I was interested in art. My elementary school teacher helped me find my passion about art and since that day I try to improve myself.

Neva:

It is a classic, but watching cartoons got me into drawing at a young age. But of course, it wasn’t like a thing I would practice everyday. The real thing that made me get really into drawing and made it my passion were comic books and video games. 

How has the Miller School art program helped you develop your artistic skills?

Nisa:

My art teacher Ms. Herlevsen helped me find all different kinds of mediums in art, and she encouraged me to try and focus on what I liked most.

Neva:

Our art teacher is always so kind and wants us to try new things. By being kind, I’m talking about making us learn from our mistakes, backing us up when we get lost in our art, and finding a way to make us laugh every time. She tries so hard to teach us new skills that we can use anytime in art, and she wants us to feel comfortable about our favorite medium as much as possible. 

What has art taught you about life in general? 

Nisa:

First and I think the most important thing that art has taught me is patience. When you are making art, you have to trust the process that you are going through. If the art doesn’t come out as nice as you wanted, you have to tell yourself that you are getting closer to success and you will reach your goal eventually.

Neva:

It taught me to look in different perspectives and look deeply. Whenever I put a color onto the canvas, I realize that’s actually not the right color and have to look closely enough, and think differently. Because you can always find so many different tones in one color and see it’s not actually a solid one color but a combination of dozens. 

Would you like to pursue art as a career?

Nisa:

I am really not sure about what I want to do in the future, but I would love to continue creating art and showing it to the right audience.

Neva:

That idea is always in a special place in my mind, and actually I don’t know what I will do as a career. I always thought about being a character designer for video games and animations, and who knows, maybe it will actually work out?

How are your styles similar and how are your styles different? 

Nisa:

Neva and I have different styles and people can see it by looking at two things. The way we paint and the way we express ourselves, the way we give the feelings to the people. I like to show my feelings on people’s faces and behaviors that I draw, giving them detailed traits about emotions. Neva likes to express her feelings by symbolism and I can see it by looking at her sketches and paintings. She likes to put emotions on different things than people, for example she could paint animals to represent emotions.

Neva:

Nisa is a perfectionist. She loves to make something as real as possible but also not look like a real picture, and I think that’s what makes her style special. For me, I like playing with colors and making something as playful and attractive to the eye as possible. I love how a color can change with the combination of another, and want to show that to everyone when they look at my art. 

Why is art important? 

Nisa:

Art is important to me because I am not very good with words and talking to people, and I need to express my feelings with something. I found my way of representing my thoughts and emotions by painting and sketching. I really think that people can understand so many things from a painting.

Neva:

To begin with, I saw many things in my life and I can easily describe myself as an emotional person. Anything I see in daily life, and in my whole life, can affect me pretty much in every way. So expressing myself and my thoughts through art is a part of my life and how I live. But I also write stories, short and long ones, and art helps me visualize the characters and the atmosphere I create in my mind and makes it so much easier to memorize them, see their personalities through my art.