Childhood slowly falls through the fingers of a college student as they grow up, becoming a memory as their wild ideas and imagination are washed away.

Grand Valley State University senior and illustration major Danielle Fritz drew inspiration from her four-year-old brother’s wild imagination to create her final showcase.

Fritz paired up with her roommate, senior illustration major Mark Truss, for their exhibit “Figments and Fortes,” which runs in the Padnos Gallery inside the Calder Art Center until April 18. The reception on April 18 from 5-7 p.m. gives viewers a chance to meet the artists and hear about their pieces.

Both seniors are illustrating stories, with Fritz showing the story that her younger brother tells her, and Truss telling the story of a jazz player who created himself.

“The background to my piece is how when you get older you lose your creativity, and how I feel like I have, like, even though I am an art student, I feel like I have lost creativity as I have gotten older,” Fritz said. “I have a little brother who hasn’t lost it yet and he comes up with these crazy ideas that I never would have thought of.”

Being close friends and living together has helped Fritz and Truss through the process of creating their show.

“It is really nice having a partner that is very adamant and on task as far as maintain professionalism, because I tend to be more laid back and casual about this type of situation,” Truss said. “I tend to have a cool head, where as my partner is very much more urgent and task oriented, but we have a good balance.”

Sharing an apartment has given them more time to talk about their separate pieces of work, and helped them develop as artists.

Working together has help to evolve the seniors’ works as well.

“(Mark) has been helping me a lot with prospective and stuff and we help each other out,” Fritz said.

They have been working all semester, up until the last minute, on putting together their senior showcase. Fritz said she is looking forward to showing off their hard work, and seeing what their peers think.
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