Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — An extreme doodling art project in the middle of the USA will have a touch of American Samoa in it.

Harmony Faoa-Danielson, 12, seventh grade, moved to Oklahoma from her native American Samoa last November. The art project in Lawton, Oklahoma teacher Deborah McNally’s class was the right opportunity for Faoa-Danielson to make a visual reminder of her home.

The doodling project is really a study in color theory where students learn about precision of lines, shapes, color and texture, McNally said.

“It hits all the bases and it’s not intimidating. It gets them out of their comfort zone and using their imagination,” McNally said.

For the extreme doodling project, a roll of paper several feet long is spread out and each student is assigned two sections to work on. They initially use Sharpies to draw lines and shapes and then they add color to their section.

A roll of paper several feet long is spread out for the project, and each student is assigned two sections to work on. They initially use Sharpies to draw lines and shapes and then they add color to their section. [photo supplied]

“They can incorporate things they know into the pattern. They can pull from their life and reinvent it into patterns,” McNally said. “Doodling is a great introduction to drawing.”

Which is how the project got a touch of American Samoa.

Faoa-Danielson said she was drawing some mountains that remind her of home.

“I’m thinking about home. We have a lot of mountains. I live on an island. I’m trying to draw an image of the mountains,” she said. “It makes me miss home.”

Once Faoa-Danielson drew the mountains, she planned to color them blue and green.

“The blue is like the sky and the green is like the mountains,” she said.

Faoa-Danielson said she has always enjoyed art projects, but has never done extreme doodling. She said her favorite things to draw are people and shapes.

“It doesn’t matter how you mess up. It matters how hard you work on it. You give it your best. The lines matter. The little things matter,” she said of the doodling project.

Lillie Spencer, 11, also was drawing something she could relate to: mushrooms. The sixth grader said she was drawing them because, “they are good and I like to eat them.” She also said she was drawing a lot of different designs.

“I’m just thinking of random things I want to draw,” she said, adding she likes to make bracelets and key chains.

When the project is done, McNally will cut out each section so students can take their section home, which will remind Faoa-Danielson of her native island.

(Source: The Lawton Constitution & Morning Press)