LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Students at Thomas Simpson School in Fort Simpson are getting a dose of a very modern art form.

"Computer arts are very empowering for those who learn how to use it. Nowadays, so much is done on the computer," said graphic arts teacher Natalie Lavoie.

Natalie Villeneuve displays the book cover she created in Adobe Photoshop, sitting in the Arts room in Thomas Simpson School on Tuesday. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

Lavoie said she sees the high school students on computers during their free time, and she knows they participate in many social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. Behind many of the popular sites, and, indeed, most modern advertising, there is a strong element of graphic design to make these things appealing.

"I want to give them the tools so they can participate as much as they can in that world," said Lavoie.

Natalie Villeneuve is Lavoie's most advanced student and is currently taking her third consecutive semester in the class.

"The first semester was just basics - getting to know the software and what the different tools do. I started getting into remaking book covers and I've done a few random pictures," said Villeneuve.

For one of her projects she redesigned the cover of a book she purchased in Edmonton.

"The original cover, the colours were yellow and gray and didn't match the book at all, so I redid it," said Villeneuve.

Recently she designed a custom graphic. Each element of the design was developed for scratch except for a centerpiece photo of a girl sitting.

The design is full of geometric patterns and plays on perspective.

Villeneuve described how she used computerized tools to aid in the development of the design

"I came up with brushes, basically stamps. You make the graphic once and then if you want to use it again you can go to your brushes and stamp it on," said Villeneuve.

The program she used was Adobe Illustrator, but most of the time she designs with Adobe Photoshop CS4. The class also utilizes Adobe InDesign for the purpose of creating art.

Lavoie has been involved in art all her life, and has taught at Thomas Simpson School for the past eight years.

Lavoie was originally trained as a ceramic artist. She earned a diploma in the discipline while living in Quebec, her home province.

"It was really, really fun, but I couldn't see earning a living with that," said Lavoie.

An artist at heart Lavoie is also versed in other forms of visual arts.

"I've done a fashion design diploma. I learned to draw and build patterns and sew, assemble collections," she said, adding she was not impressed with the fashion industry and its commercial leanings.

"For me the question has always been 'do you sacrifice art to make money, to please a market, or do you get out of it and do something else to keep art free?'" said Lavoie.

"So I became a teacher," she said with a laugh.