A teacher who has influenced me greatly was my high school art teacher, Mrs. Doemel. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I discovered my love for drawing, and she is the reason I discovered it. The only reason I took Studio Art I my freshmen year of high school was for the fine arts requirement, but I very quickly realized how much I loved it. And much of that came from Mrs. Doemel’s passion. She is an enthusiastic and passionate teacher, and her excitement about whatever project we were working on was infectious. In that class we explored many different mediums and she helped me see that art wasn’t just about drawing and pencils. In the following years of high school, she helped me develop my technique and learn the confidence I would need to take an art class in college.

As an art major, I always have different kinds of projects ongoing. As the fall semester concluded, I had just finished a painting that was the final project for one of my classes (see picture). It is something I am incredibly proud of for a number of reasons. The inspiration behind the painting was about an emotional journey I experienced this summer regarding my relationship to patriotism and America. I was also very proud of myself because I’ve never had any formal instruction in painting. It is very large and abstract: two things I have shied away from in the past. This painting was a bit of a risk for me and I am very proud of how it turned out.

As far as the future is concerned, there are a couple of things I’m interested in. First, I would love to be an art teacher. I love working with children and art instruction is something I’ve always been interested in. I also have thought about owning my own business someday. I have different ideas of what I might want it to be. My favorite at the moment is owning a Color Me Mine-type of art studio where I would get to teach people (preferably children) about art and have fun.