Garfield will be saying goodbye to many talented seniors this year, among them we have the incredible artist, Tuesday Smith. Art is something that can be practiced over and over just like any talent or sport, but some people have a natural talent that just can’t be taught.

“I think I’ve always been kind of interested in art, so I’ve been teaching myself since I was little,” said Smith. “I loved looking at art books when I was little; I would just draw things out of them, and then I started drawing on my own.”

Her art includes a wide range of projects, but her greatest passion is drawing.

“I like to draw things out of art books, and draw characters for books, stuff like that. I used to illustrate my own books when I was little,” said Smith. “I also enjoy drawing from life a lot.”

Nowadays, Tuesday focuses her work on the everyday life around her.

“Last year I did a series of pieces on public transportation at night. It was all pieces about the Seattle Metro System,” said Smith. “One of my pieces won the congressional art competition and is in DC right now in the cannon tunnel building,” she said.

Busy with her 5 AP class schedule, Tuesday doesn’t have a ton of time to draw for fun anymore, but she still finds the time to be involved with art in her community.

“I volunteer at the Seattle Art Museum with the teen art groups so I still have something artistic in my life, because I really don’t draw that much,” said Smith.

As Tuesday moves into her future, art will not be her main focus, but it will remain her passion.

“At first I thought I wanted to be an art conservator, which overlaps art and science so it seemed like the right path, but I’m not entirely sure what I want to study anymore. I enjoy art and it’s always going to be a part of me, but it’s not what I want to do with my life,” said Smith.

Moving forward, Tuesday plans to go outside the realm of just drawing.

“I really want to learn how to do oil paint better, but it’s a lot of work. I also want to get better at printing,” Smith said.

For any young artists in search of inspiration or just beautiful art, here are some of Tuesday’s all time favorite spots to go.

“I go to the SAM all the time, occasionally the Frye. The Broad in LA is another one of my favorites,” said Smith. “I like the Met…I want to live inside the met. I decided that in the third or fourth grade…it’s still my dream,” she said.

Photo by Peter Kubiniec