Meet Ciela!
Ciela is a 14 year-old sophomore at Mount Madonna School who describes herself as “open-minded, creative, and excitable.” She first joined YAC in the summer of 2019, after participating on and off in Teaching Across Generations (our art program for younger kids), and characterizes YAC as “welcoming, creative, and positive.”
Ciela always loved drawing as a kid, and used to experiment with many different styles. Her earliest memory of making art was drawing in the kitchen with her brother, and the enormous sense of pride she got when her mom was very impressed with her drawing while euphemistically calling her brother’s drawing “good in an abstract way.” Today Ciela describes her work as “realistic, delicate, and interesting;” her favorite medium is “definitely watercolor,” and she is drawn to flowers as her main subject matter. She loves using the language of flowers, that is, the lesser-known symbolism and meaning associated with different types and colors of flowers. She especially likes to play with the fact that most people aren’t aware of these connotations, and will for example paint a yellow rose which everyone thinks is beautiful but actually signifies jealousy and decrease of love. Ciela is inspired by the journalist Christiane Amanpour (because she wants to be her), Anne Frank (who inspires her, and who’s writing she identifies with), Sappho (because she’s the only poet who convinced her to love poetry, and because she was a lesbian but to her it was just love), and Israel (which she feels very connected with, and feels there is something waiting for her there).
Ciela’s other passions include writing and music theory. She plays the piano and a little guitar, but especially loves learning about different time periods and their particular musical characteristics. Ciela says that being a part of YAC has expanded her horizons, because the people at YAC all have such different beliefs, perspectives, and ways of thinking. One of Ciela’s proudest moments in regards to her art was at the last show, when she sold all three of her pieces!
Ciela hopes in the future to broaden the scope of her subject matter and start doing landscapes. She also would like to try acrylic paint, because so many people use it and she “wants to see what all the fuss is about.” In ten years Ciela dreams of becoming a journalist, specifically someone who goes to places of conflict and writes about change. You can find Ciela’s lovely watercolors online in our virtual Valentine’s Day Show here and our Holiday Show here!
