Seventeen-year-old Danielle Clark is an award-winning artist, top of her class at Berkeley Institute, and a really bad volleyball player.

In her final year at Berkeley Institute, Danielle is hoping that combination of academics and creativity will land her a place in a top Canadian animation college.

Just last month Danielle was honoured by the Bermuda Society of Arts with the ‘More Pink BDA’ prize in the seventh annual TechArt competition, which features art made using digital photography, animation, video and iPads.

Using her computer, Danielle spent around 72 hours attempting to encapsulate Bermuda in a single frame, mixing in tree frogs, gombey hats, pastels, and everything else that “makes Bermuda, Bermuda.”

“At first they announced all the teens that won the teen award. I entered in the teen section and the general section. I didn’t win anything for the teen award, so I was like: ‘Aw, that sucks. I didn’t get anything this year. Oh well.’ But at the very end they announced the general winner and it was me and I was like ‘Oh, yay!’

“It was against all these different people, including my sister Hannah. She entered as well.”

Winning awards for her art is nothing new for Danielle, who has had previous artwork win in the teen entries for the TechArt awards, and the Bermuda National Gallery’s student art competitions.

Her love of art, said Danielle, began when she was at Prospect Primary.

“My sister really liked to do art as well, both my sisters actually, Hannah and Rachel. I always saw them doing art, so I always wanted to be like them, like a little sister always does. I would always draw with them, but I was never all that good at it. I really started getting a lot better in high school, around my first year. Then I started entering competitions and winning stuff, so I was like ‘Oh, I’m actually pretty good.’”

Combining art and technology came naturally, said Danielle, after her father bought her an illustrating tablet for the computer when she was 13 years old.

“I like going on the computer a lot. I really like technology. So, mixing art and technology was just a normal thing for me. At a young age I got a little tablet to draw on that hooks up to my computer. My dad really likes technology as well. He showed me this really cool thing that lets you draw on the computer and I thought that was awesome. I really started focusing on that and really learning all the different programmes like Photoshop and Illustrator and everything else.”

Looking ahead, Danielle is planning on going to Canada to study, where she hopes to get her degree in Applied Arts for Animation. With movie theatres increasingly relying on 3D visual effects, Danielle has a more retro love of animation, inspired by her love of cartoons growing up.

“I know the industry is leaning more towards 3D animation but I’m hoping 2D animation will make a comeback because it’s really cool. Originally I wanted to do concept art for movies and stuff, but that’s also a really competitive field and you really have to work your way up. So it will be cool to be an entry level animator and make my way up to becoming a concept artist for huge movies, which would be awesome.”

Outside of academics and art, Danielle is involved with her church, where she helps put on puppet shows and other skits. She also tries her hand at sports.

“I play volleyball. I’m not very good at it, but I try to be as well rounded as possible,” she said.