Growing up we all knew the kid that loved drawing dragons and the like in their many spiral notebooks. If you can imagine that kid with the addition of curly red hair, purple glasses, and a love of all things corduroy, you have the childhood of Maren Elyce Elmont.
I have always loved drawing, and was lucky enough to have parents that put up with my fascination and let me enroll in various after school art programs and classes. I got paints and colored pencils for Christmas every year, and continued to doodle away in my own little bubble right up until high school.
Suddenly I was confronted with photorealistic portraits of Orlando Bloom and puppies in baskets, and became extremely frustrated with how different my work looked from my classmates.
Artistic worth was decided by your pencil and shading work,
I began to question if I really had the “artistic talent” at all.
Thanks to some fabulous teachers and wonderful AP classes I began to realize that not all art is created equal, and that’s the way it should be. Everyone has their voice and their style, and it is what makes this community so diverse and special.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, wouldn’t you want to use them saying something you really care about?
I’m now lucky enough to be going to school for what I spend 85% of my time doing, as a part of the 2D Studio Arts program at Brigham Young University. I’m looking forward to finishing my degree and all that will come after that.
Maren Elmont. 20 years old. we applaud her work, and her dedication to art. If more of us had the courage to do the same.
