Whenever I try to think of where my love for art began, only faint memories come forth, the earliest of me in my mom’s home daycare, where we would do simple crafts with crayons, paper, and glue. As I turned 10, I began exploring other art mediums. I started in pencil, following YouTube tutorials, then moved to simple landscape paintings, and then to using colored pencils. My relatives were always fascinated by my drawings, and would give me new supplies every Christmas and birthday. I became the artist in the family. At school, I tried watercolor and oil pastels. I began diving into digital art, and it quickly became my primary art source because I loved the diversity of it. I gave up on painting when I was 14, mostly because I would copy other artists’ paintings, trying to make them something they were not. However, in my sophomore year of high school, I was forced to come up with an original idea for a project. We were given paintings that were started by past students who had to leave them after the pandemic, and now we were to choose one and turn it into something new. As I looked around at the paintings, one caught my eye. It was a sunset, with golden yellows, oranges, and a hint of pale blue. It was only the top half that was painted, so I began looking at it in different ways to see what else I could change it to. And then I saw it. The shape of a bird's beak, after which came the eyes and the head, hidden within the depths of the clouds. In a surge of inspiration, I decided to paint my favorite animal, a kingfisher. Painting things I loved, like animals and nature, helped my love for the subject shine through. I felt a lot more connected to it, like something that was truly my own, as opposed to how it was when I didn’t know how to. The kingfisher became my favorite piece of art I’d ever created. Not just because it proved that I could indeed make a good painting, but because it showed my passions, my interests, and what I found beautiful. I rediscovered my love for painting, and now do it regularly. I also adore going to art museums to look at the masters’ pieces in person. My absolute favorite artist is Vincent Van Gogh, whose paintings are the first I look for in museums. The love and passion he poured into his works, even as his life spiraled out of control, is something I find so inspiring and tend to strive for. My favorite quote is one by Van Gogh: “I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly'.” I’ve never connected so deeply with a quote like this one, and it perfectly encapsulates what I never realized I wanted to do with my art. I want my creations to become a representation of me and the way I see the world through my unique lens. Whether it's with my paintings, my drawings, or even my writing, I hope that people will be able to see me through my work and to be able to find beauty in it, just as I have time and time again.