Our artist on display for the months of May and June is Katharine "Kaiya" Daniels.
Kaiya has worked with both adults and children with developmental disabilities for most of her life. Currently, she takes care of developing infants as a teacher at Honeytree Learning Center. Although she loved coloring, drawing, and painting as a child, Kaiya's only art training comes from time spent in middle school art classes while assisting students with disabilities. After attending a few Paint Nite events, she developed a passion for acrylics and has been painting with them for four years.
According to Kaiya, her favorite part of painting is choosing and combining colors, especially colors that are bright and intense. She also likes to throw some fantasy aspects into her paintings.
Most of the images she paints come from thinking of a subject and taking screenshots from Google. She then draws a rough sketch until she is happy with it and then transfers her design to canvas. Of all her paintings on display, she says the lion with the flowing mane is her favorite.
In addition to the artwork on display, Kaiya also does special orders for friends and family. Of one special painting she says:
"A young girl who is very dear to me lost her father a few years back. She and her dad often played Star Wars games together. I painted a lightsaber duel between the two of them, set on the planet of Tatooine. She recognized her father and herself immediately, which was a great boost to my confidence and morale."
Kaiya's paintings are not only on display, but available for purchase, as well. Stop by the library anytime during regular business hours to check out her artwork. The library is open 9:30am to 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 9:30am to 1:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.