Mediums for artists is the language we use to create our worlds. Just as musicians use notes to weave there worlds and writers conjure words into a fantastical story, the mediums we chose act as our vehicle to create our stories. As an artist, I actually love to dabble in many different mediums, but my top two favorites are oil paints. There's something about them that makes me prefer them above any other mediums. For oils, I think the richness makes me love them the most. I started off with using acrylics, which was very beneficial for understanding basic color mixing and theory, but once I experimented with oil paints, there was no going back. I loved that I had more time to work with the paint and how smoothly the colors mixed. I've used different techniques like oil lifting and layering with thin layers, but most recently I've been using a technique called impasto, or using thick layers of paint. It feels much more alive and deep so I am excited to continue working with it. Maybe another reason I love oil paints is because of my favorite artists. My favorite eras of art are the Impressionistic and Post Impressionistic (with the Romantic era following close behind). I fell in love with the use of thick paint, bright or soft colors, and loose brush strokes. My top favorite artists, Monet and Van Gogh, both tended to use thick, textured brush strokes and handled colors so beautifully. I think oil paints do a fantastic job with keeping the colors alive and make the painting as a whole so much richer. As mentioned earlier, I also love using charcoal. I started with using graphite pencils, even sometimes using simple mechanical pencils, which I enjoyed, but there was more depth and flow that came with using Charcoal. I love the contrast that comes from it and how easy it is to make the lines hard or soft. Being able to smear and blend with ease also adds to the fun. As I've been using these mediums, I have noticed that my art is more bold and has made me think about how to create in new ways. I find that it makes it easier for me to translate my ideas from my mind to paper or canvas. While working with them, it has even helped me look at the world differently; be curious about colors and what I'd use to mix a certain hue or noticing the contrast of light and darkness. I'm grateful to be an artist because it helps me keep a curiosity and wonder filled mindset.

I have known what I wanted to do with my future ever since sixth grade. It has never been a question of what I want to do with my life because I've always had a passion for art. I've taken every art class I could get my hands on and have constantly tried to improve my work. I think its sad that the arts (including music and acting) aren't getting as much attention as they deserve. There's so many talented kids out there that could go so much farther in their skills if they had to proper education. That's why I want to pursue my "gift" through a higher education. My plans are to get into the Bachelors Fine Art program at BYUI and be able to sell my own art. I have been told that to sell artwork seriously, most buyers will look for a degree to back up an artist. It doesn't seem very fair to me that an artist is judged by a degree, but alas, that's how the world works. If that's what it takes, then that's what I'll do.

Some people dream to be famous celebrities or want to explore space, but for me, I want to live a dream of my own that differs quite significantly from others. Ever since I was young, my dream was to become an artist and where most people's childhood ambitions die off, mine still remains the same. My dream life is relatively simple but I've always strived for it. My ideal life would be happily married with a family, living in a comfortable house somewhere tucked away in the mountains, with no worries and my hobby of painting being a part time job only when I want. My greatest want is to find love and be married and to raise a family of my own. Of course I am passionate about my art and love to create, but my main priority when I'm older is my family. I want a simple, loving life.

One of the greatest things we can achieve in life is happiness. Happiness is such a broad word--it can mean anything. For me, I've tried to train myself to look for the little hidden treasures and it really is the smallest things that bring me joy. The most prominent one in my life is my religion. The gospel in my life has brought me the greatest happiness. It has never failed in bringing me out of the darkest of times and I always feel loved when I'm in the atmosphere. Lately, when I get stressed or drained, the next best thing that makes me happy is music. I have always appreciated music and it's had a great impact in my life. The great thing about music is it just hugs you, even if in makes you even more sad for a moment, there's always a turning point that makes me want to soar. This same effect happens to me with landscapes and the night sky. Just to take it all in just touches something inside me and relieves my troubles. I think that even just appreciating life itself makes me happy. I love when my family is laughing and works together in harmony, my friends are joining my dorkiness, or when others just shine with joy. It's so easy to be happy or recognize it if we learn to have the eye for it.

"Your happiness is up to you". What a true phrase. As we all know, life isn't always a cake walk but it is so much more enjoyable when wearing a smile on your face. My dad always says "life is what you make it" and "it's all in your attitude" and it really is. It can be so easy to get caught up in the whirl of the internet and social media as well as falling into depression on the way. There's too much comparison thrown at the youth of today, and it really does take a toll. I will admit, I have struggled with finding the little ray of sun in dark times. It's tough training ourselves to be positive, but when we do, our problems seem so much smaller and it's so much easier to find the good. Some things that have helped me become more positive and optimistic, is looking at the big picture, being thankful, and taking some time to stop and smell the roses. If we look at what it's all about in the end, our current problem seems to shrink right before us. Little worries will seem so insignificant and its easier to forget about them. The same concept applies to being thankful. Once we count all of our blessings, it seems to drown out the bad ones and suddenly our problem doesn't seem so scary anymore. Stopping to smell the roses is something I do constantly to stay happy. It's just the small simple things like noticing the beauty of the world or appreciating a profound song that help ground us to the good. Living in the moment and appreciating life are key to staying afloat. Being optimistic means hoping for the best, once we master that concept, nothing can bring us down.

As much as I want to search for the good in the world, its undeniable that the world is growing darker. While there are many valiant people striving for creating a happier, peaceful world, there's still much evil. The saddest part is that if people only tried to be a little better or just focused on the biggest problems, a lot of the bad would vanish. The biggest problem in the world right now is selfishness. There are many problems globally but as an American citizen, I have seen this specific conflict in my country. America--the land of opportunity, the American dream, these are all wonderful things, but are they too proud? Freedom, liberty, and dreams are what our country is built on. The only problem is what if we are focused too much on our dream, ignoring everyone else to gain ground for our own benefit. It happens everyday; a parent becoming a slave to work to get to the top and ignoring their own families in the process, a person trying to "keep up with Jones's" even if it means sacrificing true happiness, even the darkest problems like drug dealing and human trafficking can be traced to people hurting others for power, their own intentions, and money. America is falling victim to the "me mindset". Families are no longer important. Service is being sneered at. People, especially on social media, are self consumed and ignoring the feelings of others. If we only humble ourselves and focus on others instead, most of our problems could be solved. Being selfless would lead to compassion and a drive for good. I believe if we strive for the welfare of others instead of just our own, the country (and world) could be a better place.

When looking at art, I want to escape from reality. I want to be transported into another world--one, for me, filled with joy, peace, and beauty. This is why I have gained a recent love for Claude Monet's work. Monet, as an important figure in impressionism, painted with feeling. Though many prefer the precise strokes in realism, I sometimes long for something more and that's why I'm drawn to his paintings. Monet paints with dreamlike strokes evoking a feeling of nostalgia. His world varies between vivid and hazy, faded colors but maintains the same lovely feel. I appreciate most of his work, but a couple of my favorites of his are "The Artist’s Garden at Giverny", "Woman with a Parasol", and " Landscape on Saint-Martin Island". Each one stood out to me when I saw them. "The Artist's Garden at Giverny" has a vivid, fairytale depiction that made me think of happy times of childhood while "Woman with a Parasol" just had such a simple beauty that I have to study it for a moment or two. Surprisingly, "Landscape on Saint-Martin Island" has the closest spot in my heart. though I live on the other side of the world, this painting reminded me of my own rural home. The beauty is a wild and almost desert-like type that not everyone may appreciate but I love. I sometimes get homesick while at home and that is the feeling I get with this piece. Though I have just begun my search in the artworld, these pieces have helped me appreciate the artworld even now.

Life will always throw unexpected things your way, no matter what phase you are in. I discovered this at a very young age in my life. In my early years of elementary, I loved making friends and being imaginative. I had a golden childhood even if it looked different from the typical child's life. At the beginning of my second grade year, my family joined the military and was asked to move in order to balance my dad's other job and his new duty. I will admit, when he first told me we were going to move I was distraught...somewhat excited for a new adventure but nevertheless horrified at the thought of leaving my childhood home, town, and friends. My seven year old little self worried that I'd never make friends or have such a wonderful home again. Then, once we'd settled into our next home, my worries vanished. I made new friends, successfully learned at a new school, and went on enjoying the happiness of childhood. When a year passed and we had to move again, the move was still a little difficult but not nearly as challenging before. I'm now approaching adulthood and have moved eight times, all before reaching eighth grade (nothing compared to other families I know but still significant for me). It became a routine after a while, though somewhat more comforting in a military community, I learned, but making then leaving friends soon became a distant worry. I was able to experience the diversity of cultures, see more of my country, and build a resilient character. Though almost simple, this experience gave me life lessons I couldn't learn anywhere else. I'm glad I could live this way because it made me who I am today.

The Covid-19 pandemic was a battle for everyone and a test for humanity. These were times that left people in solitude and even drove families apart, but it wasn't all bad. There were small victories and even unity that came from this great trial. Living in a small town, the effects of Covid were thankfully shorter and less strict than in other places. While we still had shortages of toilet paper and masks, we also experienced the triumph of the human soul. I saw people come together in my community all the time, through encouraging zoom messages, free lunches, goodies or treats to delivered to neighbors. Everyone had empathy for each other because they all felt the difficultness of the pandemic. The solitude and lack of interaction took a toll on everybody. I'm actually grateful for the unity it brought to my community and for the empathy and encouragement that was born from it. This curse was in fact a blessing in disguise.

I have cherished every life for as long as I can remember. Even as a child, I loved being around newborns and later helping younger children. I've always had a special place in my heart for innocent infants and pure souls. Every person has hopes and dreams, every life holds great value. I believe every person has great potential and that everyone should have a chance to live a good life. I've had the opportunity to work in customer service as well as working with all types of people and kids. Through my work I was taught that the customer is always right, that our goal was to treat every person with kindness and respect. In this job, all kinds of people came in including those who weren't well off or in dark places. I never thought as these people as their flaws or their situations but rather just as people. I was able to talk and build friendships with the regular customers, people that I normally wouldn't associate with. It taught me to love strangers and value others. Even through my ballroom experience, we had a few months where we were able to work with the disabled. It was such a blessing to see the purity of their souls and the happiness they brought. I loved getting to know and serve them. Another opportunity that helped me appreciate and value life was babysitting. Yes, something as simple as watching my neighbors children. I've been able to care for infants and it's some of he sweetest moments to hold an infant and rock them to sleep or to just watch laughing children play and enjoy the luxuries of childhood. I learned to love kids (even if they aren't always perfect angels all the time) and to appreciate the individualism and strengths of the young people. Tender moments have built my love for humanity. In my religion, we cherish the family and celebrate the roles mothers and fathers play. My greatest goal in life, above college and a career is to become a mother. I feel this is one of the greatest roles I could ever take part in and can't wait to marry and raise a family of my own. It breaks my heart with the growing acceptance of abortion because I believe that there's still life (or potential life) for the unborn. It's becoming way too common for women to rid themselves of their child and this is not right. There are very rare cases when abortion is okay but doing it just because the mother doesn't want a child is not one of them. I strive to promote the importance of life and the roles of families. I hope to become an example to others once I become a mother.

As humans, we all want something more. We all want the best, to be at the top, but some don't recognize that there's more than just wanting to achieve this level of greatness. I know it takes work and righteousness to be that successful being and that's why I value having integrity and hard work. The natural man in us wants the easy way out, everything handed to us on a silver platter. It takes great control to have the intentions of improving every day. It's a battle to do the right thing, especially in today's world. To have integrity means to do the right thing even if it's just you who knows about it. This is probably one of the most rewarding experiences one can have, knowing that you've overcome a personal challenge. These small personal victories are valuable but are sadly being lost. It is becoming rare to be a "good person" as we are lost in the world's standards; falling captive to gossip, lies, cheating, and dishonesty. The same thing happens with hard work. We are too comfortable with getting immediate results that if something takes work to get it, then we'll just give in to laziness and abandon our intentions. Through out my life, I've tried everyday to become just a little better; holding my tongue to keep peace, freely giving compliments, being honest. It's tough monitoring my thoughts and actions in order to improve myself but it's always been my goal to live up to who I'm supposed to be. I strive to work hard as well as building my character. In my family, we aren't given things for free. Sure we have help with paying for gas and insurance until we can stand on our own feet, but we aren't given a car to go off to college or $1000 to start off our own lives. I'm sure if me or my siblings were in great distress my parents would gladly help, but for the most part, it's up to us to save up for a car, phone, or college. I've taken it upon myself to find jobs so that I can pay for everything. As of now I work two jobs outside of school. In the summer I work from 6 to 11 o'clock in the morning Monday through Friday at a flower farm then work another job for about three days a week after my first job. This can sometimes be tiring, working hard in the sun but it's rewarding. I like knowing that I can do hard things and provide for myself. I'm not yet in college so I don't know how it will be working and going to school, but I'm confident I'll be able to survive on my own. These attributes, integrity and hard work, will benefit me in he long run. They'll help me be a better person for myself and others. I strive to help others through my actions and example.

Every child has a dream they want to come true, something to believe in and build their childhood on. Teachers encourage them to think about the future and what they want to do with it from a very young age. Whether the future generation longs to be graceful ballerinas, world changing inventors, or stunning actresses, it's been stressed that we need to decide what we want to be because they are the next leaders. As a little girl, I always wanted to be an artist and while other's dreams may change over the years, mine remained unchanged--it's still my plan to this day. I have always viewed the world differently and I believe others noticed that when I was in school. My art was recognized through my teachers and peers even though I thought it was nothing extraordinary. My earliest creation that deemed me as the "art kid" was a illustrated fairytale I made. The teachers were impressed that a kindergartener created a story even though that was just something I liked to do in my spare time. Judging from this essay it may sound like I enjoy bragging but it's really the opposite. I usually keep to myself and get bashful from attention but that doesn't stop me from creating. I have always found joy in getting lost in my art and bringing my imagination to life. Through out my life, this creative hobby has impacted me and the very paths of my future. I decided during my high school years that I wanted to make my hobby into something more so I took every art class I could get my hands on. I wanted to improve my skills, I still do in fact; that's why I'm getting ready to enroll to college and further excel my skills . My main goal is to get my bachelor's degree in fine arts in order to share my art with others. I want to keep art alive in today's world. Sadly, many artists never get taken seriously because they don't have a degree, but this way I can sell my work and hopefully get my name out there. I believe it's vital to not only have a complete education but also to live through one's passions. I want to finish my education so I can fulfill my dream and have something to fall back on in case life throws something unexpected my way. My hopes are to be successful in my field and to share what I have with the world.