Morgan Sheppard is going back to school. The Grade 8 student at St. Paul’s School is showing her art online, with a virtual show at the Yorkton Arts Council’s community pARTners gallery. That show, Back To School, showcases Sheppard’s work from this year.
While unable to show at the physical gallery due to COVID-19, Sheppard was glad that she had the chance to show her art to a wider audience. Sheppard both showed her paintings and appeared in a video for the gallery discussing painting.
The show began with a painting with trees, where Sheppard was experimenting with different techniques. She really liked working with greens and bright colours of acrylic paint, and she enjoyed painting the birds in the trees. That set her off in the direction the show wound up taking, exploring nature and animals.
“I enjoy making my art because I like to feel that I can control what goes on to the canvas, I like the colours and the shapes, and I like how I can make things look how they can really look.”
Sheppard said that before she showed, she was nervous that people wouldn’t like her work, as this would have been her biggest audience, but her mom encouraged her to show.
“I really like drawing and I really like painting, but I never thought I would put my work out there to see.”
She said that she’s had a lot of response from the teachers at school, both about the work itself and the included video.
“It made me feel noticed, and I was really happy when they talked to me about it.”
She encourages others to take up the hobby.
“I think everybody has a little art in them. I think that anyone wanted to, they could definitely do this.”
She doesn’t know what’s next, though she believes she’s going to try for another show in the future.
See Sheppard’s work at yorktonarts.ca
