Connect What is your favorite type of art to create?

My work mostly focuses on 2D art. In painting, I use oil and acrylics; in drawing, mainly graphite and ink. I naturally lean towards portraiture because I like to capture the little details that make an individual unique. I like to create a visual of their essence, in a sense. I also do a lot of work featuring musicians or pieces inspired by alternative subculture. Overall, I'd say my work can best be described as vibrant, bold, expressive, intimate, and honest, falling under expressive realism.

Where do you find inspiration?

As a musician, I take much of my inspiration for visual art from music. Often, I may be listening to a song that resonates deeply with me at a particular moment, and I use the emotional undertone from that work to start a new piece. But mostly my inspiration comes from an indescribable urge to create that has been with me since childhood. Most of the time, I don't create with a particular outcome in mind; I create for the sake of it, just as a bird doesn't have a reason for flying.

What would you do with $25,000?

If I had $25,000, I would use it to support my art education. I have recently been accepted to Florida State University to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Ultimately, I would like to achieve at least a master's degree and use it to do something like art therapy. I am pursuing an art education because I want to spend my life doing something I love, even if that means risking financial struggle. This prize, however, would ease the burden of being a low-income art student.