Precocious painter

eye on harford

Teen already a veteran artist

Audrey Schiminger has an eye for art.

Since she was a preschooler, she has spent time doodling and drawing pictures. By the time she was in first grade, she was taking her first formal drawing classes.

"I like to be put in situations where I am given a chance to be creative," said Schiminger, 15, of Forest Hill.

"Art gives me a chance to be creative, with no guidelines."

Her parents enrolled her in a class in first grade, and nine years later, she draws and paints every day.

Although she doesn't create art for the accolades, she has won more than her share of contests. Recently, she had a painting selected for use on the August page of the calendar for the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation. The foundation, a nonprofit group located in Havre de Grace, was started in 1989 to promote the importance of agriculture in daily life.

In her rendering, Schiminger drew some canning and preserve jars.

"People are really into all that canning stuff," said Schiminger, a sophomore at John Carroll School. "So I thought the jars might be good subjects to paint."

However, creating the artwork was more difficult than selecting the subject, she said.

"I sketched it a bunch of times, over and over again, until I got it just right, and then I painted it with acrylics and oils," said Schiminger, who has a home-based studio in her basement.

Schiminger creates portraits, still-life drawings, plants, portraits, and landscapes.

She said she creates art with many media, but she prefers working with oil paints.

"I like oil paints because no matter what the art looks like when it's done, it looks cool even if you messed up," she said.

With this contest completed, she's looking for other opportunities to create art, said Schiminger who is inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, and his painting Starry Night.

Although she keeps her dreams about her art realistic, she's not afraid to admit exhibiting her work in a top art museum wouldn't be bad.

"I wouldn't mind having my art displayed in the National Gallery of Art," she said. "That way a lot of people could see it."

But for now, she's content with the calendar.