Ayva is a young artist currently in grade 7. Below is an interview she gave during a youthLEADarts after school program that speaks to why art is so important to her and why it can be also be inspiring and uplifting for others. She has taken the initiative to compose, design and sketch a LEAD graphic novel featuring the characters Listen, Empathize, Act and Drive.
Ayva says, “Since I was 5, I have found art very calming in an unstable world. My thoughts can run wild when I create art. It is soothing and an escape from reality for me.
Mr. B introduced me to really cool shady pencils. I love using them the most. My mom has always been encouraging and encouraged me to become a professional artist.
When I have a blank page / canvas, I try to focus my emotion into the canvas. Whatever I am feeling I put onto the canvas. Right now, I am feeling very elegant so I am adding a flower, but the background, which is mixed shades of blue, reminds me to not over give. I chose light colours to represent that if I stop giving it won’t turn into something dark.
Characters for LEAD: I am creating Act and Empathy as characters for a LEAD graphic novel. Act is an actor for little kids shows. She is very self-conscious and she gets anxiety when she is on big stages. She does her best to do good but when she feels she is not good, or the audience does not like her she gets sad.
Her friend Empathy is like a guardian angel. She tells Act she is good as she is. She boosts her confidence and she makes sure that Act knows that she doesn’t have to please everyone else, she just has to please herself. I am inspired to create these comics hoping that someone else will feel better by reading them. Hopefully if someone is feeling less than, they will be able to find a friend like Empathy.”