CREDIT: ERIKA FAUST
Sara Baxter took home the top prize for her entry into the Interrobang's annual cover contest. Check out her design on the front of this issue.

This weeks' Interrobang cover may have caught your eye. With bright colours, butterfly silhouettes and a beaming face, the design won this year's cover contest.

First-year Photography student Sara Baxter created an abstract watercolour painting for her winning entry. "There's an artist I like who does faces out of watercolour, but I wanted to do something that was more my own. I added butterflies and I wanted to capture my first year of college and being myself at a new school," explained Baxter.

The theme of this year's contest was student life, and Baxter expressed her own experiences at Fanshawe through her art. "I used the butterflies because they transform from caterpillar to butterfly, and that was sort of like coming from high school to college for me: like becoming myself and going out on my own and everything. Then I did the face without any face around it so it was kinda like a blank slate, everything was new," she said.

Baxter's art pieces often capture ideas instead of literal things. She's inspired by famous surrealist painter Salvador Dali. "I love abstract art … he does weird paintings, his paintings are like dreams. He's my favourite artist." She also finds inspiration in those around her. "My boyfriend, who I go to school with, he told me I should do it (enter the contest), and all my roommates saw me doing the painting and told me I should enter it." Having the support of friends and family has encouraged Baxter to continue her art.

Although Baxter is taking Photography in school, drawing has always been a passion of hers. "I do a lot of drawings in my spare time, I do a lot of cartoon(-type) drawings," she said. "People just ask me for drawings so I draw whatever they want me to … when I'm home (in Kingston, Ontario), I do a lot of acrylic paintings for friends and family."

When choosing which college program to take, Baxter was faced with a tough choice. "I was choosing between going into art and going into a photography. Art has always been what I've done on the side, and we have paintings around my house that I've done for my family. I decided to go into photography instead because I wanted to keep art as a hobby and something I like to do, I didn't want it to turn into career," she stated.

The future for Baxter is still a mystery, but studying art may be in the picture. "After I graduate, I'm not 100 per cent sure what I want to do, because I want to finish the photography. Then if I feel like I still want to do more school, I might come back and do a diploma in fine art." For now, she's looking forward to completing her second semester and in particular her favourite class: creative design.