Two Linworth Alternative Program students created a Zen atmosphere in a Phoenix Middle School classroom, painting a peaceful and colorful scene in which a bonsai tree's branches stretch toward a globe and seek a sun that smiles down on students.

Freshman Amelia Rosenberg and sophomore Brooke Ward put their heads and hands together to paint the mural in Kara Smith's eighth-grade Connections classroom.

"Our original sketches turned out to be a lot different than the finished mural, but we both really liked the result," Rosenberg said. "A big, colorful swish of color comes from the left, then a moon is in profile and you see a bonsai tree, with one branch reaching to a globe and a sun that is smiling."

Ward said she was surprised and pleased with the finished mural.

"We used watercolors to lay out all the colors in a sketch, but what we ended up painting was so different and so much more detailed," she said. "It blew my mind that it turned out so well and I was surprised by the way the mural evolved as we painted it."

She said the process of painting together also evolved.

"The teacher wanted something relaxing and earthy, so we decided on trees and nature and sketched out the bonsai tree," she said. "We did the base color first, then the long swirl of color. When we were painting the tree, Amelia did the dark shadows and I did the light shadows; she did the basic shape of the sun and I touched up things."

Both students were on an "Interim" week as they painted about 55 hours over five days to complete the mural.

Interim is a pre-approved, weeklong independent study for freshmen, sophomores and juniors at Linworth -- part of the school's experiential learning program to help students explore careers, interests or academic pursuits outside the classroom.

"Walkabout" is the senior version, in which second-semester seniors spend two nine-week sessions out of town in career placements or other independent study opportunities.

Rosenberg is a former Phoenix student and Smith was one of her teachers.

"I had some suggestions for the mural from my teacher," she said. "She wanted a relaxing, Zen-like atmosphere for the mural so that students would feel comfortable expressing themselves," she said.

She said a part of Interim is going back to your school and sharing your experience with fellow students.

"We're divided into advisory groups at Linworth, so we'll share our experience with our advisory group," she said.

Rosenberg said she takes art courses at Worthington Kilbourne High School, her home school, but is not sure if a career in art is in her future.

"Art really interests me, but I really have no idea what I want to do in the future," she said.

Ward also takes art classes at Kilbourne and is excited about possibly doing another mural and working toward a future in art.

"It was exciting to work on such a large scale," she said. "Another Phoenix teacher was talking to us about possibly doing another mural, painting the Kilbourne Wolves and the Thomas Cardinal into a mural in the gymnasium."

She said the project helped her to learn more about herself.

"I definitely learned more about my ability in art and the process of painting on a large scale," she said.

Ward said she hopes to attend the Columbus College of Art and Design after high school.

"I've been doing art my entire life and experimented with different artistic styles," she said. "Through the whole week of painting, Amelia and I were talking about how great it would be if this kind of painting was our daily job."