“I have always loved art. It is relaxing to me, so I would always paint or take pictures when I was stressed, especially with school. If you keep practicing art more, you will be able to tackle more difficult things too. With the assignments given at Mercy in my art classes, I came to grow as an artist with practice and the help from the art teachers.

The award I won in the art contest was for a photo I took of my fish, Priscilla. We had just bought her and placed the fishbowl right by the window. One day when I was passing by, there was a beautiful sunset shining through the tank. So, I took her out of her tank and put her in this sort of glass, with the sunset behind it. I grabbed my camera and began taking multiple photos of her, using different angles. Once I went through all my photos, I found the most striking one and edited it until it looked perfect. The specific photo I took of my fish is called a silhouette, which is sort of a dark shape in the spotlight with a light background behind it, helping grasp the object it is focusing on. I was extremely proud of the photo I took and I chose to submit that specific one for the art contest. I won Gold Key (first place) in Photography for the art contest. My photo will compete in New York for national awards in March. I am thrilled to have been able to share my photo with others and that I was able to receive first place for my work.”