Like many other students her age, 15-year-old Andrea Alcázar has a very active imagination.

All one has to do is flip through the pages of her well-worn sketchbook to see it in action.

Taking a break from the latest sketch she was hard at work on inside Dean Hill’s art room last week at Union High School, Alcázar combed through the pages of her book. Bold and colorful illustrations, depicting everything from sorrowful romantic longing to lighthearted portraits of her classmates, popped out from the pages.

Alcázar’s vivid drawings did not go unnoticed by her peers, who eagerly gazed at her work as she flipped through the sketchbook, pointing out their personal favorite pieces of hers as she passed them.

The popularity of her work is yet another example of how art is a universal language, one understood by anyone regardless of where the artist is originally from.

For Alcázar, home lies across the Atlantic, in the peninsular nation of Spain. Hailing from The Community of Madrid, the teenager has been living and studying in Dowagiac since August as part of a foreign exchange program.

“My sister went [to the U.S.] last year,” Alcázar said. “My mother wanted me to go too, so I could learn English and experience a new culture.”

Naturally, coming from the European nation to the Midwest has given Alcázar a bit of a culture shock. Adjusting to the vastly different the American diet compared to hers back home was particularly jarring, she said.

Studying at Dowagiac Union High School has given her a lot of new experiences, she said. In addition to enjoying some additional freedom with her coursework (and not having to wear a uniform), Alcázar said she has had the opportunity to attend sporting events and dances, some things she could not have done at her school back in Spain.

Coming to America has also brought a new perspective to Alcázar’s artwork. While she has been taking art classes since she was around 7 years old, through Hill’s class she has learned more about inks, watercolors, perspective and other mediums and techniques, she said.

Last week, Alcázar was busy working on another sketch of one of her friends, using a photo from her phone as reference. Portraits in particular are her favorite subject, be they of her friends or characters from her favorite TV shows or movies,
she said.

“Faces can have so many different expressions, and can be so different from one another,” she said.

She has a series of portraits of her classmates and fellow exchange students inside her sketchbook, with each of them sticking their tongue out. On each of their tongues she has painted the flag of the country where they hail, including America, Mexico, and Spain, for her self portrait.

Outside of class, Alcázar spends time working on her pieces when inspiration strikes while she is chilling out at her host family’s home, she said.

“It is relaxing,” she said about her artwork. “I feel a sense of pride when I’m done, too. I like it a lot.”

Alcázar will continue her stay in the U.S. through June 21. Although she still has a few months left until she returns to Spain, she knows she will miss Union High and the new friends she has made since coming to America.

“It is hard for me to speak in Spanish these days,” she joked.