Putting the last few touches on a new piece, Nick Metz looks up at the clock to find that it is almost two in the morning. Nights like this are common for Metz: drinking tons of coffee, concentrating on artwork, and losing sleep by the minute.

Metz is a senior at Pascack Valley who spends countless hours and nights practicing his passion.

“I never really ‘discovered’ I was good at art,” Metz said. “I just discovered I liked art and it was that passion for art which drove me to get better.”

Metz found that he had a love for art in his middle school art classes. Eventually, he realized that art could positively impact his life and he became more interested in improving his work. He then signed up for various art classes at the Ridgewood Art Institute.

He was taught to create pictures with traditional realism, or pictures of people and things, rather than the abstract.

“It’s really great being friends with Nick,” said Kendall Cottrell, a senior, Metz’s friend, and the subject of several of Metz’s artworks. “It’s fun modeling for his work and he is so supportive of me and I’m so supportive of him.”

He uses traditional realism to follow in the footsteps of his favorite artist, John Singer Sargent. According to Metz, Sargent is the master of portraits. He said that Sargent’s piece “Madame Ramon Subercaseaux” is a great example of his portrait work. He also likes Sargent’s other work, such as “Alpine Pool”.

With inspiration from his idol, and so many others Metz’s artwork has blossomed from simple sketches to elaborate masterpieces.

His demonstration of traditional realism, of both people and objects, is displayed all throughout the halls of Pascack Valley, alongside the work of other students taking AP Studio Art. His oil paintings are also displayed in the Hillsdale Library and his artwork is often in the school literary magazine Outside In.

His earliest achievements go all the way back to 2013 when he was named the Ridgewood Art Institute’s “Young Artist of the Month”. His most recent award was the Arthur Maynard award, which he received at the Ridgewood Art Institute’s Young People Show.

Metz believes that his greatest achievements were winning the Arthur Maynard award and the Sargent Brighter World Contest award, a national online art contest in which Metz was one of four national winners.

This award was his first-ever distinction. He won it with his favorite piece: one of his self portraits.

Because of his talent, he is pursuing art as a career. Whether it be working in an art gallery or becoming an artist himself, Metz looks forward to surrounding himself with his passion in the upcoming years. He is also looking into business as another possible career choice.

“I can be successful in what I do and what I love,” Metz said.

Metz currently takes AP Studio Art and AP Art History at Pascack Valley. He has just started a new piece using chiaroscuro, which means light and dark, in his art classes.

When Metz isn’t drawing or sketching, he keeps himself busy with his involvement in clubs. He is the co-president of the art club at Pascack Valley and is a part of Boy Scouts and Interact Club.

Metz loves being outside as well and uses nature to inspire some of his best pieces.

“Despite [art] sometimes driving me crazy, it brings me so much joy,” Metz said. “That is what I’m looking to do: to bring others joy. If I could spread the joy, to even one person and inspire them, that would make me happy.”