Ever since she was three years old, Emily Erikson (12) has been pursuing her love for art.

“Instead of going outside [when I was young], I would stay inside and draw in coloring books all day. [My parents] signed me up for classes at South Shore Arts, and I’ve been taking classes there ever since,” Erikson said.

Erikson does not restrain herself to a creating a specific type of art. Recently, she has been inspired mainly by the elements of nature.

“My concentration right now is on birds and the nature that surrounds them. I’m [focusing] in on certain parts of the picture and cutting out pieces and re-pasting them,” Erikson said.

When concerning hobbies, many people have a role model that is looked up to for inspiration. Erikson was lucky enough to meet hers.

“One of my favorite artists is Chris Cosnowski. He’s inspired me quite a bit. I met him at the South Suburban show. He brought in some of his [art] and showed us Power Points. I love his attention to detail,” Erikson said.

Since she realized that she wants to create a career out of her love for art, Erikson has begun to sell some of her artwork. She started selling her pieces  through Facebook and is finding new ways to promote her art.

“My mom posts a lot of my work on Facebook. I’m actually starting a website right now, though. My co-worker’s making [it], and it’s [called] eriksondraws.com. If you want to check it out, it should be up in about a month and you’ll be able to buy prints and some of my original pieces,” Erikson said.