This I Believe...

I am abstract. I am different from others. I am myself. You have to believe in yourself to accomplish things in your life. Being abstract is one way to do this. Being abstract means being different. In art being abstract is drawing (or painting or sculpting) something not from nature. So if I draw swirls with square fireworks coming out of it, that would be abstract, you wouldn’t see it in real life (except for maybe a sculpture or my picture).

I have come to believe in this by coming into the art world. Each artist has different strengths. Each artist uses different media (pencil, pen, paint, charcoal…). I have found my strength, in abstract art. In classes I doodle my abstract art in notebooks, in art class I draw my big versions. My work has shown me that I am not only different with my art, but with my life. I am also good at making new friends. I can make new friends because I am friendly, but also because they can come to me. They can come to look at my abstract art and maybe figure out what I am trying to say in it; this is where my friendliness comes in, and I become friendly to the people who find me.

I feel at home in art class. I’ve felt like this since the beginning, in sixth grade. This is when I found my talent in abstract art. Back then, I sat at a little table with three other people, some of who were very annoying. My teacher, Mr. Hornberger, was talking to us about what we were going to do throughout the year (which included making masks, drawing little things, and making miniature paintings), after he gave us our notebooks. I was doodling in mine (obviously). I was trying to draw a flower at first (I think, or it might have been some mountains with a river through it). It turned out like some amazing thing that you would never see in nature. Even though it wasn’t what I was trying to draw, it was still really cool. I found out that because I am different than others in my art class it means I am different than others period.

Some people might try to copy others because they like their style, but I think you should be happy with who you are and not try to be like anyone else. Your friends like you for who you are, not for who you’re not. Being different is a privilege, not a punishment. I believe in being different from others, and you should too.