Though sophomore Jerilyn Lee seeks to inspire others with her art, the work she produces tends to be dark.

“I just want to create art that makes me happy and makes other people happy, even though most of my art is very dark,” Jerilyn said. “I don’t know why most of my art is dark. I’m just a teenager. I’ve tried [to create happy art] before. I ended up painting a really dead bird with really bright colors, and that was my attempt.”

When her aunt passed away, Jerilyn felt compelled to work more on art as a way to honor her aunt’s death.

“When [my aunt] passed away I thought, ‘I have to do art now because I am so dedicated to this person and I’m so dedicated to what I do now,’” Jerilyn said.

For Jerilyn, art is a medium through which she can express her thoughts and emotions.

“If I’m feeling sad, the art piece is probably going to be blue, but if I’m feeling happy then I’ll draw bubbly stuff that’s all happy,” Jerilyn said.

In the future, Jerilyn wants to sell art that makes others happy.

“I think almost every artist’s’ dream is to sell their art because people genuinely like their art,” Jerilyn said. “That’s pretty cool.“