In school, Art was my best subject. Growing up, I loved to express myself in many creative ways. Painting, Drawing, Clay Sculpture, writing songs, and singing. I loved dancing too! My earliest memories are of me excelling in art class during the second grade. At that age, we would leave our home room class to visit the art studio to participate in things like making handmade paper and other elementary school projects like handprint turkeys for Thanksgiving. Ms. D, my art teacher, was a wonderful influence, but the person who inspired me most was my mother.   

My mother is the one who taught me how to draw and always encouraged me to make gifts with my talents for her friends and family members. She helped hone my skills and explore my imagination. I’ve always appreciated art for what meaning it holds by the creator and the connection it makes to the audience. I stand by my opinion that one artist is not meant to be better than the other, or the best of all time, but just different. Creativity is different for each creator. It comes from the soul.  

Writing and Painting are the only real ways I can feel whole. It fills a huge gap in my sense of processing my deep emotions. It helps restore my sense of well-being. It helps me heal. It helps me grow. The classes I have taken involving Fine Arts have helped me understand what it means to truly, better express oneself. Working among my peers, I can encourage others in their journey and offer positive feedback and corrective criticism that might help progress their talent and skills. I appreciate when my peers reciprocate, I am always willing to learn and receive feedback.  

In my teenage years, I was self-taught in Jasc Paint Shop Pro. It was a digital program made for creating artwork. After getting my toes wet with Jasc Paint Shop, I moved on to Adobe Photoshop. By the time I first attended college at Briarcliffe, Patchogue, NY, I was fluent with Photoshop and excelling in all my graphic design courses in my Visual Arts Degree program.  

-Alex Lily Camarda