My Love For Art

Flurries of snow roiled in motion under the command of capricious, roaring winds. I stood and marveled at the sight as my eyes traced the white balls thudding against the ground and architectures all at once at exactly the same speeds. Particles of snow danced in joyful synchronization in mid December of ‘05. This was my earliest recollection. This was the day I left my family 12,678 kilometers away to come to the United states for the pursuit of a better way of life. I remember sitting on a rusty old bench on the first day of Kindergarten. The sounds of children at play echoed from the playground, stomping and running and laughing. None of the worries of adults crossed their minds, only how to elude capture by their friends. The rhythmic creaking of swings went back and forth, and some kids tried to time their jumps from the swings to the rhythm. I was one of those children growing up who would pry open a brand new remote control car to pull every component apart than play with it. I surmise this is where my love of engineering truly began.

Curiosity, undoubtedly, is one of the universal characteristics of a child. The innate desire to explore and understand comes just as naturally as eating and sleeping. For example, I was eager to discover how my mother was able to play such enchanting melodies on the piano. While she methodically pressed each key, I observed as the corresponding hammer struck a set of strings to produce a pleasant sound. My curiosity and the love of music sparked my desire to learn the piano; thus, leading me to learn and ceaselessly play for the past 12 years.

I trudged out the door in utter denial it was Friday afternoon and I was in an awful mood. For 7 years my mother had made it mandatory for me to take piano lessons twice a week. As a child, I adored practicing and the ethereal feeling I felt each time I played was truly unmatched. Although the pieces I played were classical and were no longer an interest of mine my teacher was a jovial young woman named Mrs. May. She enjoyed wearing floral patterned skirts, she had trademark wide-brimmed glasses and her soft, delightful voice always made me smile. Despite Mrs. May’s enthusiasm and encouragement, I didn’t have the same passion for music as I used to. My short attention span wasn’t helping and having to practice while also devoting time to soccer and cross-country meant my free time was practically non-existent. I thought about quitting but I couldn’t gather enough courage to tell my mother. So that being said I continued, lessons generally followed the same pattern unless I had a recital in the near future. In that case, they were demanding and strenuous. That was the case as in 2 weeks I had my largest recital where I would be playing Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven on top of a piece I had written with the help of Mrs. May.

Ever since I was a little girl I would sing everywhere, in the bathroom, the car, at school, and at parties but my favorite spot has always been in the shower. I would never sing in front of my brother, he would always tease me about my voice. Being teased made me feel like I wasn't good enough. Because of that I stopped singing for a while. At that time, I didn’t know what to do singing had been part of my life even before I even came out the womb. I've been told my aunt would sing to me frequently. I felt completely at lost, I was unidentifiable with myself. I need music in my life.

To adequately explain my immense love of the arts and social sciences, I must first recount my experiences of art and how that experience shaped me to become, and I quote my mother, the “artsy fartsy” person I am today. Like any child, when I was in elementary school, I changed what career path I wanted to pursue frequently. In kindergarten, after watching Bob Ross paint in an afterschool infomercial that a teacher showed (and being so enthralled with it, I nearly cried), I decided I wanted to be an artist. A traveling art merchant who lived in Paris because to me, France was the epicenter of artistic innovation. My mother encouraged me to follow my heart, and I did. I'd won several local art competitions by the time I was ten and life was good. Sadly, by the time I was in third grade, my romanticized view of art had changed drastically. I was disenchanted with the art scene in my town, and I told my mother that I wanted nothing to do with crayons, let alone a full-blown art career. Not surprisingly, I quickly latched on to another hobby, singing. My passion for singing, at the time, was so pure and my talents were limitless. My friends and family told me it was a natural gift, and that I was given a vocal range that rivaled even the best in the business, and I believed them. They fueled my desire to train my voice, to join every local choir I could, and to eventually even travel as far as Los Angeles to showcase my talents. But, I slowly became disenchanted with singing

I do not believe I have enough time so let me just tell you about myself now. I am not crazy, I would like to think my mind is abstract just like my artwork. It seems strange to people yet so beautifully magnificent to me. I spend my days in France painting my “illusions” as people like to call them. My love for art all started with my job at an international art dealing firm. I saw all the colors, mixes, blends and fell in a deep sensation of peace. I always needed some peace, my doctors say I’m bipolar, they are lying, I need peace; Art is my peace.

It seems like from the moment I could walk, I have had a love for dancing. When I was little, every chance I got, I would perform in front of my family. Whether I was singing, dancing, dressing up, or pretending to be a model on the runway, I wanted all the attention on me. When my mom put me into dance classes, I instantly fell in love with it, because the whole time, I got to do what I loved the most: perform. As the years went on, dance became something I was truly passionate about, and the lessons I learned from it began to change me. Those lessons and the ones I am still learning from dance have had a huge impact on me, making me into the person I am today.

I like to describe myself as a bubbly person; I am definitely a glass half full kind of girl; I love sunny days, the color pink, and peppy songs. At the same time I love pretty much anything girly, working with kids, history, reading, animals, hair, makeup, and talking about the Bible. My family has always discussed everything, and I guess that's where my love of discussing things comes from. I am the oldest of five kids and have two brothers, and two sisters. Mckinley is 15, Savanna is 13, Lincoln is 11, and Abel is 4. I have been homeschooled my entire life and enjoy a close relationship with my siblings and parents. My Dad is a state farm agent, but he spends his extra time studying hebrew, and my Mom is a full time homeschool mom and wife/super woman extraordinaire. We live in Davenport, Iowa right on the mississippi river.

Sometime, when I’m bored I like daydream. Whenever I daydream it gives me a sense of creativity, it gives me ideas on what to write in a story I could do. Every time I have a good

Music is the most important thing in life. Or at least it is to mine. I play the violin along with a couple other instruments I taught myself. I went to the Denver School of the Arts for high school to play in their orchestra. I plan on studying music in college. Almost everything I do is connected to music, but it was fairly recently when I first started becoming really devoted to music. There are many kids who are born being an amazing musicians, but my passion for music had to be grown over time.

Granddad I blame you, I blame you for everything that had happened to our family year. I blame you for all the heartbreak and the tears that my family had cried. You were supposed to be the “head” of our family but, no you let me down, you let every family member down. I have been holding in these feelings for years but you are getting older and so am I. I’m trying to forgive you. I want to forgive you, but first I need to explain to you what you did to me.

“Mom, why is the sky blue?” Questions have overtaken my life from the time I was a toddler. My younger days would start out with an overwhelming amount of questions for my poor parents. Quite often, they would have to answer with the iconic, “that’s just how it is” in order to stop my ever flowing narrative of curiosity. Like most, my childhood was filled with a natural interest in the world and how it worked. My yearning to know all not only shined through my juvenile character, but also in the amount of interest in school that I began to take part in.

Throughout most of my life I have had one consistent goal; to become a veterinarian. I have had a continuous and solid passion for animals in all respects. This passion and love has fueled my in striving to achieve the dreams I have for myself after high school. The beginning of this story begins long before high school though.

Creativity has been on my mind for quite some time. When I think back to my childhood and when I look at my own children, I see how innately creative children are. All day long they are engaged in fantasy and imagination and are continually exploring their world with fascination, and through this, bringing creation forth.

I have so much to be thankful for in this world but, I think my family is the most important. Till this day I don’t think I could have made it day by day without my family. I believe my love for my family is important because they trust each other, support each other, and are always there to help when needed. I believe these four virtues of family suggest why my family resonates as the most important because of support, love, builds on shared memories, and reinforces responsibility.