SHS student a gifted artist

By TRICIA NEAL, Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset October 31, 2009 05:12 pm

— His mother calls it a gift from God. He just shrugs his shoulders.
“It’s easy,” he says.
Freddrake Clemons has been drawing since the age of seven. The same can be said for plenty of children, but Freddrake’s pieces of art look remarkably similar to the movie posters and DVD covers printed by companies like Disney and Nickelodeon.
At a glance, an observer might believe Freddrake traced his masterpieces from originals. But his mother and his art teacher at Somerset High School have seen his creative talents firsthand, and can attest to the fact that his work is purely freehand.
In Wanda White’s art room at SHS, the 17-year-old senior spreads his drawings across a table and describes each one in detail — down to the actors’ names. There are posters for the Aristocats, Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Spongebob Squarepants, High School Musical, Dragonball Z, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and countless other popular movies and television shows.
Freddrake says he is a big fan of youth television channels such as Disney, Nickelodeon, and Teen Nick.
Many of his drawings are stored in binders, but many more are displayed in his home and at his school.
He’s made posters for his brother’s room, and his mother proudly displays one of his aluminum foil creations — yet another of his talents, perhaps even more remarkable than his drawings — on her dining room wall.
Freddrake makes detailed figures from aluminum foil — a talent which recently won him recognition by the Somerset Independent Board of Education.
The award-winning masterpiece was a cardboard stage decorated with glitter and Christmas lights, and containing a full band made entirely of aluminum foil.
In Ms. White’s art room, a large aluminum foil skeleton — complete with a ribcage and a jaw that’s separate from the rest of the skull — hangs beside a chalkboard. Ms. White says he created the skeleton within a few hours.
“It doesn’t take him long to create these things,” White says.
“Just leave him alone, let him be to himself, and he’ll be done in no time,” his mother adds.
Freddrake has also decorated Ms. White’s classroom bulletin boards with various posters throughout his years in high school. This month, he’s created four gauze and crayon posters depicting Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
“I want to give credit to Ms. White,” Freddrake’s mother says.
“She’s been behind all this.”
“I make sure that he is scheduled for an art class every year,” Ms. White says.
“And I always have plenty of aluminum foil for him.”