The blue paint, vibrant against the green background, sponges into blobs creating a rounded, multiple-pedals effect. As white is added to the very edges, just a tint, the colors slowly blend together. I dip my paintbrush in the bright, lime green paint and glide it from the bottom of the flower to the floor. I add a few more stems, then leaves, and then dip in the darker forest green and stroke my brush down each stem and the leaves, creating a shadow and a three dimensional illusion.  One bunch of flowers down, covering about a foot of my canvas, 40 more feet of wall left to cover.

Painting a mural for Peregrine’s Landing, a memory care home for the elderly, was my largest project. The outside cement wall I painted covered 50 feet of ground ranging from eight feet high, gradually decreasing to one foot tall. When completed, characters including a cat, some ducks, two deer, numerous birds, several butterflies, two bunnies, and a chipmunk or two decorated my mural, bringing life to the outside patio. Although the final piece was impressive, completed after two weeks of hard work, it was the idea that I was making life a little bit brighter for someone, in this case, even a person who would not remember who I was or what I was doing there, that I found the most rewarding.

My love for art started when I was small. I would watch my mom, a talented artist herself, sketch animals onto the driveway, her hands decorated with multiple different colors of chalk. My sisters and I called out creatures for her to create, and as I would watch her hands move, that same calling stirred in me as well. 

Years have passed since those days in the sun as a little girl, and as I grew, so did my talent. Entering high school, I recognized the power that my art could have on my community. Before I know it, I’m standing in a little girl’s newly designed pink room with her face beaming at every piece of furniture. My stomach tightens as she looks up and gasps at the center piece of her room, a large 3 foot by 4 foot

painting of her dream horse... which I had the pleasure of painting. Her smile triggered my desire to help others through my art. I began painting pictures as gifts for friends, organizing the creation of holiday cards for Yale New Haven Hospital, and eventually coordinating with Peregrine’s Landing to paint the garden mural for the residents. My town library provides me with endless opportunities to share my talent; hence, what started off as just a teen art show freshman year eventually became Cathleen Cole, the director of the Teen Library program, asking, “How do you feel about teaching an art class for kids?,” and in front of my own eyes, I began to shape a community all of my own.

I like to follow the motto I created for myself a few years ago: pictures are stories of the past, art pieces are images of the future. Every time I work on an art piece, I am creating a future for those around me. I have strived to share my experiences and love for art with others. I finally realized that the size of my paintbrush does not matter, but rather it is the foot print I leave through my passion that matters. Art is how I communicate and connect with others for it is a language not spoken and yet has tremendous impacts on those around me. Most importantly, art allows me to create my own future, and improve others’. I am my own art piece.