As part of a defense that allowed just 0.74 goals per game this season, Stephanie Tramutola of the Muhlenberg women’s soccer team has to be creative with her feet on the field. However, when she’s not defending the back field, she can often be found doing creative things with something that she can’t use during soccer – her hands. Whether with brushes, pencils, a camera or clay, Tramutola loves making art.

She has enjoyed art ever since she was a little girl, but high school was when Tramutola really began to explore her creative side. She took art classes all four years of high school, mainly in the area of sculpture.

“It allows me to express myself and be creative, and I’ve just loved it ever since high school.”

Thus far, the junior has taken five art classes at Muhlenberg in a variety of disciplines: Painting 1, Painting 2, Introduction to Analog Photography, Drawing Studio and Art History. Painting 2 was her favorite because it allowed for the greatest amount of creative leeway and artistic exploration.

“There was almost no structure to that class – we were basically allowed to paint whatever we wanted.”

Art certainly provides a number of creative avenues, but Tramutola prefers to keep her work within the abstract vein.

“I am horrible at figure paintings,” she laughed. “We had to do figure drawings of naked models in one of my classes and I find it very hard to draw the human body.”

Tramutola’s most recent work from her Painting 2 class is on display in the lobby of the Baker Center for the Arts.

Being that she is an abstract artist, it may be difficult for non-seasoned art viewers to understand what Tramutola was depicting in these works.

“In the beginning of the year, we were given a sheet that told us to find a mirrored object. It could be anything that had a mirror or a chrome surface,” exlpained Tramutola. “My grandma, who passed away, had given me mirrored elephants and I chose those as my subject. All of those paintings were of the elephants.”

Now you see them!

Pictured below is her final project for Painting 2, as well as a few of her paintings from classes she took during her freshman year.

While she plans to continue honing her creative side during her time at Muhlenberg, the media and communications major doesn’t quite envision a career in art.

“I think I will just continue to do it on my own time to relieve stress,” she added.