Sunset Middle School Rising Star art student Madison Kintzel

Madison Kintzel, an eighth-grader at Sunset Middle School won the Niwot High School Art Show Rising Star Award for her sculpture of a willow tree erupting out of the middle of a book, with long spiraled paper branches and tiny paper leaves hanging over a lake, which was made by cutting several layers of paper deeper into the bottom half of the book. The artwork is entitled "Weeping Willow."

The award was presented during the Niwot High School Art Showcase in early December. The Rising Star award was voted upon by the audience attending the art show and is dedicated to acknowledging the exemplary art of the middle school students in the show.

Kintzel enjoys various different mediums of artwork, including acrylic painting and watercolor painting, along with sculpture. In addition to her fine artwork, she also enjoys participating in choir.

"My feelings motivate me to do art," Kintzel said. "I love to use different colors that I like, and it's fun to see, to draw stuff that's around me so I can see if I can capture it in a drawing." She said, "I like to draw inspiration from the nature around Colorado because obviously it's very, very beautiful here."

Jennifer Tjornehoj, Kintzel's art teacher, appreciates Kintzel's dedication and attention to detail in art. "Madison has such a sophisticated vision and creative process. I'm always so impressed with how she furthers her vision to include so many details," Tjornehoj said.

Fine art isn't the only subject that interests Kintzel. She is planning on studying different mediums as well as more diverse subjects in high school. She said, "I would love to learn more about photography because I want to do that when I grow up, to be a child photographer, and I want to learn more about different languages."