Developing My Drawing
Drawing of toddler, done by exchange student from Georgia

Interesting insights from Georgian artist

Everyone is born with some talent, some ability to do something better than others. But not everyone has the opportunity to develop it, so it is a matter of opportunity, not capacity.

My talent is drawing. Drawing means a lot in my life. When I am starting to draw, I can feel a cascade of ideas come to my mind, so I express myself and my thoughts with different colors. Drawing is a great way for me to let my imagination run wild. When I draw, I tend to access my imagination from the depths of my mind and put it on paper.

I was born in a small city, and starting from childhood everyone was amazed at my drawings, saying that I inherited my talent from my grandfather. I took drawing classes at school in seventh and eighth grades once a week, and that’s very little for a person who really wanted to improve her talent and succeed. My small city doesn’t have a lot of opportunities for drawing, and when I was unable to develop my talent, I forgot about it and started to concentrate on my English.

This dreamy girl with small opportunities and big goals became a finalist of the FLEX program, and two months ago I came to the USA. I have been taking drawing classes in my new high school since the first day, and I can surely say that I have acquired a huge amount of knowledge and become more talented. I am very thankful to my high school art teacher, who helped me greatly.

My first drawing in my American high school was a portrait of my host niece. I chose the hardest type of shadow which is drawing with dots. Innumerable dots and a lot of work describe my love for her. My host sister was so enchanted that she posted my drawing on her Facebook with the title, “Our exchange student is so talented.” People offered me money for drawing their portraits after that post, so my talent started to work for me.

I am very thankful to the PAX program, the FLEX program, my host family, and my art teacher, because only with their help could I improve and move forward in my talent.

—Seda (FLEX, Georgia), hosted by the VanHouten family (MI)