ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- As long as she can remember, Zoe Fletcher has enjoyed drawing.

“I started drawing pictures of my sister when I was really young,” said the Loxley native, daughter of Cindy and Dennis Fletcher. “My parents have been encouraging me ever since.”

The Robertsdale High School senior began studying under RHS art instructor Bryan Baggett when she was a sophomore and, he said, is often used as an example of proper technique for her favorite medium, pencil drawing.

“She’s great at use of value to show contrast using an ebony pencil,” Baggett said. “I will oftentimes take her work and show it to my younger students to compare with their work. Her art has inspired a lot of our younger artists.”

At the 2012 Faulkner State Community College Art Fair, Fletcher took home an excellence award for her artwork.

“When I started out, everything I did was very small,” she said. “Mr. Baggett has really encouraged me to go bigger. That was one of the first larger pieces I did and it won.”

This year, Fletcher went a step further, claiming the top prize, Best of Show, for her pencil drawing entitled, “Relief Next To Me.”

The work is an original piece and like many of her other works, was inspired by a dream. Fletcher said she got the idea for the drawing over the summer and an incident at school later in the year inspired her to create the work that would eventually take home top prize in this year’s contest.

“I use my art as a way to express myself,” she said. “I have a tendency to overthink things and I wanted to convey a feeling of being trapped and say something about self-destructiveness.”

In addition to her sister, Jessica; Fletcher also has an older brother, Matt. She has committed to the University of Montevallo, where she plans to study art.

“I really don’t know yet what I’m going to do for a living,” she said, “but I imagine that it will have something to do with art.”

In addition to Fletcher’s Best of Show Award, sophomore Matthew Smith earned a merit award for his work entitled, “Tribal Deer,” which was created entirely with Adobe Illustrator.

“It’s exciting to see someone so proficient with the available technology at such an early age,” Baggett said. “You see so many kids that know they want to work in graphics design, but they don’t become familiar with the medium until well into college. With that kind of experience, Matt is ready to further his training now and when he is done with school, he will be ready to go right into the workplace.”

The competition was held April 18 at FSCC and judged by Steve Strickland, commercial art instructor;  and Ken Bethea, art instructor, at the school.

All schools in Baldwin County participated in the contest, Baggett said, along with a few schools from Mobile County.

Awards for the 2013 Faulkner State Community College Art Fair include:

Merit Awards: Sterling Yeend, “The Rooster,” Spanish Fort High School; Matthew Smith, “Tribal Deer,” RHS; Ainsley Hill, “New Life,” Theodore High School; Tristan Young, “Reflective Radiance,” Baldwin County High School; Emma Meeker, “Courtship,” Daphne High School; Jackson Tharpe, “Degas’ Dancers in Blue,” Fairhope High School.

Excellence Awards: Joni Moore, “Biggie,” Gulf Shores High School; Rae Carlson, “Home,” DHS; Nicholas Bryant, “Mr. Squid,” Murphy High School; Leah O’Rourke, “Through the Looking Glass,” Theodore; Charli Adams, “Rage,” GSHS; Mary Harris, “Self-Portrait,” Foley High School.

Best of Show: Zoe Fletcher, “Relief Next To Me,” RHS.