Everything around me inspires me to make art; from bracelets to fabric to trees to my dog, I love trying to capture the beauty of everyday objects in my work. At the beginning of the school year, we had an assignment to use charcoal to do a fabric study. I picked a fairly plain piece of fabric with only a few stripes, but I was able to take this ordinary piece of fabric and make it into something pretty by drawing the folds and creases of it. This project taught me how to see beauty in everyday objects, like towels and other everyday fabric objects. Later on in the year, I painted a bracelet my dad gave me for Christmas, a bracelet with amethyst jewels and gold clasps. As I painted the light reflecting off the gems, I could see how each facet of each gem contributed to the beauty of the bracelet. Layer after layer, working on this painting, I saw it come to life through my art. In this painting, I was able to show the value of this bracelet both from its beauty as a piece of jewelry, but also as something that had originally been my grandmother's and is now my own. When I think about ideas for new projects, the first things I think of are always everyday objects or things I experience everyday. In all my projects, I want to turn something ordinary into something that carries more weight than just existing everyday in my life. Each object or action in my everyday world contributes to my life in a meaningful way, whether it be making me smile or feel grateful for what I have. Without all my ordinary objects and experiences, I wouldn't be able to capture the extraordinary ones.