Even at a young age, senior Karissa Howard loved art. She said she has been influenced by it all of her life. Her mother is an artist and supported her in her artistic journey. Now Howard is determined to make sure art is in her future.

“I’ve always been interested by art,” Howard said. “My favorite materials to use are watercolors and oil pastels, but I love to experiment with several different things at a time.”

Howard took regular art class in ninth grade and said she loved it so much that she decided to take Drawing 1 in tenth grade. After that, she said it was obvious, she had to continue with art classes and has taken AP art for the past two years. She said she enjoys that class more than any other because of all the freedom she is given.

“You’re still doing work, but you can just make it your own,” Howard said. “It doesn’t have any strict guidelines.”

According to Howard, high school has really affected her artistic talent. All the other artists in the class have inspired her. She said she was able to bounce ideas around with them and come up with several of her artworks. However, it was not just the students that inspired Howard; her teacher was a big influence as well.

“She [Mrs. McManus] really allowed all of her students to be themselves and just do whatever they were interested in doing or whatever they felt like they needed to do,” Howard said.

Howard said that her favorite type if art is realism and expressionism. Her favorite artist is Salvador Dali.

“He’s very popular,” Howard said. “I’ve actually done a few resource papers on him.”

Howard said she wants to have her own art studio, but has not decided on all the details she needs to get her there just yet. She plans to go to Pulaski Tech or UALR, but also wants to go to nursing school. She said she would love to have a job in the medical field. Her goal is to work at a pediatric hospital and work with kids.

“I definitely want to stick with art, but I’m not sure if I’ll make a legitimate career out of it or not,” Howard said.