BY CAMERON STEPHENS

The strong smell of oil and acrylic enveloped the room as Junior Lucy Hanley leaned over the parchment, her hand moving up and down; forming loops and lines; turning the page into a sea of words. All the colors and words blended together to form a proverb; ever so artfully engraved onto the page.

Lucy Hanley, despite taking a challenging course load and participating in a number of time-consuming extracurricular clubs/activities, still manages to spend around 2-3 hours a day painting, drawing, or writing.

“Over the last year or so, I have become completely obsessed with it; it’s definitely a passion of mine and is something that I love to do,” says Hanley.

Last Christmas, Hanley received a sketchbook along with a bottle of blank ink and several fountain pens from her parents. She began looking at calligraphy on social media, and she was just blown away  with all of the intricate pieces of art that she saw. “It was just amazing and it really piqued my interest, so I took it up” said Hanley.

Hanley would spend hours practicing; she would write whenever she was bored. She also took up painting; buying acrylic paints and Posta paint markers to use on canvas. Despite it being a passion of hers, it only recently developed into a profitable side business for Hanley.

“Madeline Hoffer last year saw some of my paintings and asked me to paint something for her–anything that I wanted to do. She bought a softened piece of wood, dropped it off at my house, and I started working on it. I really enjoyed doing it,” said Hanley.

“I have done other commissions for people all around the community; its definitely something that I am really excited about,” says Hanley.

Besides doing canvas and wood paintings, Hanley has also begun to paint and decorate bibles–her intricate work has caught the eyes of a lot of people in both the school and the community.

“When I started going to Young Life (a local youth-based church group) I took my bible with me, which I had decorated and painted. I spend a lot of time decorating it, and when other people saw it they started asking me to paint theirs as well,” says Hanley.

Now, the demand has skyrocketed. People simply giver he their bible and she spends around 5-6 hours painting and decorating it. “I usually just ask for around 20-25$- it really just depends on how long I spend on it,” says Hanley. “Its something that I love to do and I am so happy that I have been able to share it with others” says Hanley.

Lucy Hanley is currently taking commissions/projects- Just ask her!