Meet Chanelle

Chanelle is a 16 year-old junior at Monterey High School who describes herself as “quirky, weird, and colorful.” She first became a YACster about a year ago, and describes YAC as a fun, creative, and entertaining environment.

Chanelle’s first memory of making art was when she was gifted a sketchbook in the fifth grade. She doesn’t remember what she drew, but just that she drew in it! Now Chanelle works mostly with colored pens and watercolors, making colorful, geometric compositions and stylized character portraits. She describes her artwork as “cute, colorful, and simple,” and draws inspiration from her two aunts (who are both very artistic themselves), Oregon in the spring (because of the cherry blossoms), the beach, and YAC.

Chanelle’s other passions include photography, creative writing, and baking (if she’s in the mood she bakes with her father, because her mom doesn’t like to eat sweets)! Being a part of YAC has taught Chanelle that everyone has their own perspective, and that there isn’t just one vision but many. One of Chanelle’s proudest moments regarding her art was this March when she completed YAC’s 30Days/30Drawings challenge for the first time (the time before she just made it to day 21). She says that showing work in her first YAC show made her very happy, because it meant that people got to see what she loves to do! She adds that she doesn’t care if her work isn’t good, “because it’s there, and it’s what I do.”

Chanelle’s goals for her artwork are to get better at making her art more realistic, to inspire more people, and to one day learn oil painting. In ten years Chanelle dreams of becoming an art therapist. Find Chanelle’s lovely work on Instagram at @moonightfineoix