The Quincie Douglas Library invites you to view an exhibit by youth artist Xayden-Ray Hamilton. The exhibit will be on display until January 2, 2024.
Artist Statement:
Art is fun! I like to make art, because I can create whatever I want… whatever my imagination can think of. Art makes me feel happy. It also calms me down when I get upset, mad, or sad. I have been taking art classes for two years at Toscana Studio and Gallery. Linda Ahearn is my art teacher, and she teaches me how to create all different kinds of art: drawing, painting, sculptures, mosaics, and more. I work with various mediums such as markers, crayons, pastels, acrylic paint, clay, metal, and fabrics.
The very first piece I made, as a student at Toscana Studio, was a tiger using oil pastels. I really like how the colors look. They seem to be brighter and stick out more than marker or crayon colors. Some of my favorite materials to work with are markers, paper, paint, clay, and Legos. I also like to sew stuffed animals, so my brother and I can play with them. I like to explore all different kinds of mediums and techniques to create art.
My art is inspired by things I love to learn about like dinosaurs. Sometimes looking at dinosaurs and finding out cool facts about them is exciting. I like my “Ancient African Desert” piece because it has dinosaurs, which are amazing. They are very skilled and have different abilities. I’m fascinated by the Velociraptor which can jump 10 feet high and run really fast. The Spinosaurus can swim underwater and is bigger than the T-Rex.
I also am inspired by some TV shows, movies and other artwork I see. I made “Flaming Hot Fire Fury” sculpture after watching “Dragon Rescue Riders” and enjoying the character Aggro. In art class, I saw a bee made of metal, and I decided I wanted to make a tiger like that, so I did. I used glue, mosaic pieces, grout, and wire to make “Master Blood Claw.”
Nature inspires me as well. Orcas and dolphins are some of my favorite animals, and I like to draw them. I like orcas because they live together in pods, they make sure their babies (calves) are safe, and they are bigger than sharks. I like dolphins because they can do a lot of cool tricks and outsmart a shark. I also enjoy drawing cats on Procreate on my tablet and on paper. Cats are very playful, and it is fun for my real, live cats (Santi Cat and Nano-Rex) to see my pictures of cats.
For my next piece of art work, I’d like to create the staff of Kundi as described in the book series I am reading called, “Future Hero.” I think I will use clay, metal, or wood and see where my imagination takes me.
