Lanakila feels that Mrs. Sato has been instrumental in her development as an artist. "She’s helped me so much with exploring my own creativity," Lanakila explained. Always encouraging Lanakila to experiment with new media and approaches, Mrs. Sato reminds her not to "get stuck on what you’re good at." It was with gratitude that Lanakila gave the featured still life to Mrs. Sato.

This was a challenging piece in many ways. Working with the raku firing cans outside forced her to look carefully at her composition and the way light and shadow played over the surfaces. Using color to show the volume of the raku firing cans was difficult, as was the challenge of trying to get the colors she wanted in the piece by using the colors she had available. The background created a dilemma as well, as she had to decide how to fill it. Colored pastels give this piece its multi-layered look. Lanakila favors pastels because, unlike watercolors, pastels are "forgiving."

The resulting piece of ordinary objects made beautiful fits the theme of her portfolio: "Beauty in Common Things." Lanakila says that she has discovered that things do not have to be beautiful in order to be a subject for art; art can make ordinary things beautiful. This still life was part of her Concentration.

Lanakila’s AP art class at Baldwin High School in Wailuku, Hawaii, was part of the Drawing and Painting II class. Since there are usually only one or two AP students a year, the AP art class operates as an independent study. AP students spend the end of the year working on their portfolios.

Lanakila is majoring in art at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is looking forward to her computer design classes, which are a new approach to art for her.