Published - November, 10, 2005
Teen artist dazzles children at Pensacola arts
festival
Parents and children have waited in line for more than an hour to see
Ashley Spears work her magic, as she transforms an ordinary sheet of white paper
into a one-of-a-kind creation.
This year at the
Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, the lines were even longer to see the young
Chumuckla artist at work.
"She was an instant
hit. I knew she was talented. I just didn't know how talented this little girl
was. She was inundated by the lines," said Linda Gray, sponsorship chairman for
the festival.
For the past five years, Spears,
18, has been featured in the Children's Festival section of the event on the day
devoted to children with special needs.
She
always has been interested in art but began her portrait and caricature work by
accident.
"We were working with charcoal doing
undersketches for my painting class, and I just decided to draw the girl sitting
next to me," Spears said.
Her art teacher showed
the caricature to her mother, who showed it to Gray. Gray then sought out the
girl for the festival.
On Friday, the first day
of the festival, Spears again was working with special needs children. Gray was
especially impressed by her ability to build such a good rapport with the
children.
"She has a tender spot with these kids.
It was very touching," Gray said.
Spears was
sponsored with a $100 supply grant for the weekend by the Santa Rosa Art
Association. She approached the group with the idea of collecting donations for
her portraits and caricatures that will go toward a grant or scholarship to
assist in art education for areas of Mississippi damaged by Hurricane
Katrina.
The group jumped at the
idea.
"Being a teacher myself, I understand that
losing something that has been gathered over years and years of teaching is
expensive to replace," said Suzanne Borges, a member of the
association.
Spears, a graduate of Milton High
School, is also one of the recipients of the association's college scholarships
and is pursuing an associate's degree in art at Pensacola Junior
College.
She plans to return to the festival next
year.
