Artist of the Week: Jocelyn Brock

Warwick Valley Middle School eighth grader Jocelyn Brock has a creative spark that art teacher Leah Mednick quickly recognized.

“Leah consistently stands out for her exceptional artwork and fearless creativity,” Mednick said. “She is a true risk-taker who isn’t afraid to try new techniques, explore bold ideas, and push her work beyond the expected. With a strong artistic voice and original vision, she brings her own ideas to life in ways that are thoughtful, expressive, and inspiring.”

Jocelyn has been drawing since she was a toddler, when a babysitter handed her crayons and paper. “I sat down and just scribbled all over the paper,” she recalled. “I think it inspired me to keep going, I guess.”

Today, Jocelyn works in a wide range of mediums — graphite pencil, colored pencil, watercolors, acrylic paints, markers, oil pastels, even fabric and clay. Her process is guided by instinct and curiosity.

“It all really depends on my mood,” she said. “If I have an idea that sparks, like that comes into my head, I’ll figure out a medium to use. And if I don’t know what medium I’ll use, I’ll pick out a random one. Like I’ll spin a wheel and whatever it lands on, I have to work with that medium and I can’t work with anything else.”

Mednick sees that same inventive spirit in the classroom.

“When Jocelyn begins a piece, she likes to think outside the box and add her own ideas,” she said. “She often runs her ideas by me and expresses her visions. What might start off as an art gallery will turn into a bedroom filled with art. What might start out as a hand study will turn into a surrealist-style hand drawing. She follows her ideas with confidence.”

That confidence and ability to push boundaries shows up in Jocelyn’s current project — a twist on an artist‑inspired gallery assignment. Instead of recreating the work of a famous painter, she is designing a gallery based on herself.

“This project that I’m working on is an example of ‘pushing,’” she said. “We were supposed to do a piece based off of an actual artist. I had the idea of making it like my own bedroom,” she said. “Instead of doing a real artist, like Picasso or something, I would do my room and make it my art. The pictures of what I’ve drawn before are hanging up on my wall, and on the floor is a sculpture I’ve made.”

Her friends, in fact, are one of her biggest sources of inspiration. They often ask her to draw things for them, or she’ll sketch her friends in her notebook. “Depending on how they’re sitting or what their pose is or what they’re doing will inspire me,” she said.

Jocelyn’s creativity extends well beyond the art room. She plays trumpet in the school band, sings, and is teaching herself guitar on both acoustic and electric instruments. She also participates in Odyssey of the Mind, where she blends art, storytelling, and performance — another place where her imagination thrives.

In school, she gravitates toward classes that use visual learning. Science and math are favorites, thanks to teachers who incorporate diagrams and models.

“My science teacher Mr. Mesic uses visual aids, which helps a lot,” she said. “Just explaining things without visual aids is not a very easy thing for me. My math teacher Ms. Murray does too.”

Whether she’s sketching characters from stories she writes, experimenting with new materials, or re-imagining an assignment in her own style, Jocelyn approaches every project with originality. She hopes to continue developing her artistic voice in high school and beyond.