By Risa Askerooth

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Although Sophomore Joy Sanchez is enrolled in a Drawing and Painting course at MHS, her art goes well beyond the classroom. Developing a passion for art since she was in the first grade, Sanchez uses it as an outlet for her creativity.

“I’m a person that has a hard time finding the right words, so why write, when you can draw something that can say the exact same thing without actually saying it?” stated Sanchez. Sophomore Leah Keller, a fellow artist, added, “It’s just a way to express ourselves and to really let our creativity shine.”

Although Sanchez’s art is described by Sophomore Sharon Sakuma and Keller as cartoony, colorful and filled with patterned, Sanchez does not define her art with one distinctive style. “I want to say in the patterns there’s no pattern. I always find myself doing something like weird and like I’m constantly changing,” expressed Sanchez. Sakuma said, “Just so creative, like you would expect it to pop out of a magazine or a comic book, I think.”

Within the span of almost a decade, Sanchez’s art has improved and developed dramatically as she learned new techniques and became more in tune with her creative impulses. “You just draw what you see and it’s kind of like impressionist but when over the years you accumulate some more traits that really just capture your attention,” said Sakuma. Keller continued, “Her art matured a lot and she gained skills and we both try new mediums like watercolor and charcoal.”

Oftentimes, Sanchez gets her inspiration from others’ art, which she adapts to create her own original pieces. “So in a sense I get my inspiration from other peoples’ inspirations of other inspirations and so on,” said Sanchez. When inspiration does strike, Sanchez toys with a small idea until it grows and finally becomes a thought that is able to be transferred to canvas or paper. “It all starts with the thought and then the thought becomes a little doodle somewhere on my homework or my assignment or in a book,” stated Sanchez, “I kind of reimagine the whole thing.”

Keeping in mind that an art career is sometimes difficult, Sanchez has hopes of becoming an artist in the future but at the moment considers her artwork a hobby.