I’m 11 years old and I’ve lived in Cumberland my whole life. I LOVE art. It’s one of my favourite things to do. I also really like to travel, and Victoria is one of my top places to visit on Vancouver Island. That’s mostly because it has an awesome art store, tall buildings, and different kinds of food. My favourite restaurant down there is Dumpling Drop. I love their deliciously spicy pork dumplings and would like to try and replicate the recipe with my mom. Together, we spend a good amount of time in the kitchen and on Netflix watching baking shows for inspiration. Right now, soft pretzels and cupcakes are my expertise. Well, I really just help roll, tie, and eat the pretzels! Mom does the rest.
Any time we travel places, I take a sketchbook and pencil cases filled with art supplies because I like to be prepared! As a family, we take road trips. So when we’re driving for hours and hours, I stare out my window, clearing my brain, and then the light bulb turns on and ideas start showing up. Then I pull out my sketchbook and start drawing.
When I can’t think of anything to draw, I ask for suggestions. While getting ideas thrown at me, I usually come up with my own and don’t use any of the suggested ones! Ha! Sometimes, when I still can’t think of anything, I look up different artists for reference—ones I’ve learned about in school or heard about from my mom. Sometimes I just draw my not-so-innocent fluffball of a pooch, Wrigley. He’s an Australian Labradoodle with an awesome personality. Since he’s so scruffy and fluffy, he can be tough to draw, so I like to make him look cartoonier than he is or challenge myself and try to make him look as realistic as I can on paper.
I’m inspired by a variety of art styles, but I’m still trying to find my own. What I don’t need to find are art supplies—I have a ton! My current favourites are paint pens that let me combine drawing and painting (also known as drainting). I also like using watercolour and acrylic paints, pencil crayons, coloured markers, and Sharpie fine point pens. I’m just getting into digital art and look forward to exploring that further.
Besides art, I enjoy reading, karate, hanging out with friends, listening to music, and exploring our local forests, beaches, and lakes. I also like to wander up and down the Island with my family. There are so many things to see and do, and new people to meet. We like doing this all year round because it’s fun to experience different types of weather from all the seasons. Spring is a great time of the year for little adventures because plants are blooming and growing berries, making nature brighter and more colourful. When it’s raining (which happens a lot here!) I stay inside and create stuff, read books, or play board games. Or I get outside anyway and explore, finding inspiration wherever I am.
