My name is Oscar. I am Canadian and was born in Ottawa, Ontario however, my family originally is from India and Scotland. I have lived in Ottawa my whole life. I am a student at St.Philips Catholic School and I am 11 years old. I really enjoy living in this area in the winter because there’s always so much snow to play in, but the summer is fun too! 

I have channeled my love of the snow into a beautiful painting using acrylic paint and brushes depicting a snowy area here in Ottawa. A professional artist named Katerina Mertikas taught me and my class how to make this type of painting. I created this painting because our class has been investigating what it means to feel joy and how joy affects our lives so I just thought back to the fluffy white snow here in Ottawa and knew what my painting would look like. I have always been fascinated by how art can so easily wash away the bad in your day and paint good on top. In my painting I used color to separate the different parts of my painting and to create composition. Through the artistic process, I realized that anyone can make art and that no matter how bad your art looks it’s still the only one in the world that looks like it so you should always think of your art as priceless. I remember when I was younger kids said that my art didn’t look good because it wasn't perfect but when I came home that day with that art in my hands my parents were amazed because they understood how much work I had put into it. I hope that when people see my art they take on my parents' mindset and think about how I put lots of work into it, and that it’s one of a kind.

To me, my art is very special because I know how much work I put into it and how many memories I created with my friends and classmates during this experience. I am only challenged by the fact that I don’t paint very often so if I made it a hobby I would have to make a lot of paintings before they started looking anything like Katerina Mertikas’s paintings however, I hope that this piece of art will encourage me to paint more and more and create new beautiful paintings.