Charles Henderson High School senior Lizzie Orlofsky is the recipient of the 2015 Troy Arts Council Scholarship. The scholarship is given annually by the TAC in memory of Troy artist Jean Lake.

The scholarship was presented to Orlofsky Tuesday by Pat Duke, TAC scholarship chair, and Ruth Walker, TAC president.

Walker said the TAC was extremely proud to present the scholarship to Orlofsky as she extends her studies past the high school level.

Orlofsky is a four-year art student at CHHS and is also enrolled in the school’s Advanced Placement Art Program.

Pam Smith, CHHS art instructor, said Orlofsky is an outstanding photographer and has excelled on the local and state levels since she was a freshman.

“The way that Lizzie looks at things is different from the way most others would perceive them,” Smith said. “She has an eye for design and she incorporates printmaking and graphic design into her photography. Her photography is unique. Her artistic talent is not limited to photography. She is also paints and draws and is a printmaker. She’s an all-around good artist.”

Orlofsky’s portfolio concentration entry for the 2015 TAC Scholarship included a five -piece thematic body of work.

“In my concentration pieces, I combine my portrait photography with my own printmaking,” Orlofsky said. “As an artist, I have learned as Alan Ginsberg said, ‘to notice what you notice.’ What I notice is what Emily Dickinson noticed in ‘A Certain Slant of Light.’ The things I see in that certain slant of light are shape, texture, color and contrast.”

Orlofsky said because that slant of light is always changing, She likes to hunt for details.

“I like to hunt for details when they are ripest in my mind’s eye,” she said. “While I feel most comfortable behind the camera, I enjoy using my photography to create hands-on textural art.”

Orlofsky said she did a lot of dancing growing up and, to her, dance is a beautiful form of art.

So, in the process of creating her concentration, she started by taking photographs of friends who modeled as dancers. She took the dancers on location to the Shakespeare Festival grounds in Montgomery, to sites around Troy and to a Brundidge cemetery.

“After I took the photographs, I drew designs, carved them and made print makings. Finally, using graphic design, I combined my photographs and printmaking to transform the dancers into birds, a phoenix, a raven and a swan.”

Orlofsky adjusts the color in some of her photographs to create unusual images from ordinary object.

“I like to see what happens when I increase the brightness or saturation of colors,” she said. “Sometimes, I get amazing images.”

Dukes said most everything about Orlofsky’s photography is amazing.

“The concentration for her portfolio for the Troy Arts Council Scholarship was photography and our panel of impartial judges were so impressed they recommended the awarding of the scholarship to this talented young artist,” Duke said.

Duke said the TAC wishes Orlofsky all the best in whatever career path she chooses and hopes that art will always have a place in her life.

The TAC scholarship is in the amount of $2,000 to be awarded in the amount of $500 in each of four semesters. The recipients of the scholarships must take at least one art class during each semester of the scholarship awards.