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With a seemingly busy environment of students hosing down glass canvases and laying out t-shirts with freshly printed designs, it hardly seems as if the screen print class has time to just sit down and relax. Erika Ruvell, however, finds herself at home as she vigilantly looms about the classroom looking over students’ work.”I plan on being here forever man,” Ruvell says with a laugh as she brushes her fiery red hair behind her back.

Ruvell, a 27-year-old screen printing major, has produced a dazzling variety of work which consequently landed her a position as screen print lab assistant. In addition, she is also the teacher’s aide to screen print professor Kris Pilon.

“I took screen print my first semester here at PCC and it turned out I was really good at it,” Ruvell said. “From then on, I figured this is what I wanted to do.”

Ruvell’s artwork inspiration pulls from different outlets but garners the most ideas from rock and roll.

“I like to be edgy, punky,” Ruvell said. “You know. and antlers!”

Her eccentric designs have also landed her recognition with design companies and artists.

Her background includes work with a web-based clothing company, warlordclothing.com. She designed and printed shirts for metal bands.

She has also had the opportunity to work with well-known artist, Richard Duardo, in the Modern Multiples studio in Los Angeles.

“We worked with fine arts, street designs, graffiti,” Ruvell said. “Even Saber street designs.”

Aside from being a lab assistant, Ruvell is a freelance designer and has a small business making shirts, posters, stickers, and other items for her friends who are in bands. But her small business doesn’t just sphere influence from her circle of buddies.

“I did some work for The Mau-Mau’s recently,” Ruvell said. “They’re a legendary band from 25 years ago.”

In addition to her artwork, instructors and students admit to her professional work ethics as well.

Teacher Pilon says that she is an outstanding and capable screen printer, which is why she holds the job she has today.

“She’s very bright and she’s curious,” Pilon said of Ruvell.

“That makes her an excellent student. She’s willing to learn anything and everything,” Pilon said.

Inge Ortega, a PCC graphics major, says that Ruvell is extremely helpful and that she’s comfortable asking Ruvell questions without ever feeling dumb.

“My first semester here, I took a textile class and she was helping out,” Ortega reminisced. “She would check up on me and kept me going on.”

The future for Ruvell seems like a clear-cut path with opportunities looming from every corner.

“She’s one of my top students,” Pilon said. “I hope she gets her B.A. and comes back to PCC to teach.”

For now, Ruvell insists that she is happy at PCC, but she will soon try to venture into establishing her own business.

“Being here is inspiring,” Ruvell said. “It forces you to be creative and when you finish something, you’re motivated to stay creative.

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