HER Arts

From the very first moment her small hands gripped tightly around the curve of a crayon, Hot Springs High School student artist Rachel Tyler worked toward becoming a full-fledged artist. Although she is only a junior at Hot Springs High School, Tyler already has a stack of award-winning works in her portfolio. After some coaxing from her family and art teacher, Tyler decided to start showing off her talent a bit more, and it definitely paid off.

“I’ve pretty much always been interested in art. There hasn’t been a time when I wasn’t making art; I’ve been doing it for years,” she said.

As a child, Tyler said she consistently had some type of mark-making tool in her hand. Over the years, her parents and art teachers recognized her exceptional talents and pushed her to pursue the craft further. Eventually, she began experimenting with different techniques and mediums to learn more about the areas she excels and where she needs to improve.

“I just enjoy all aspects of art. I like the ability to create your own thing, especially portraits. You can add a lot of expression to the piece,” she said.

Because she is still a student with several years ahead of her to experiment with all the different aspects of art, Tyler soaks in the opportunity to learn anything and everything she can. Most recently, she has begun experimenting with ceramics, oils paints, and conceptualism throughout her work. Her favorite mediums are currently colored pencils for works she wishes to spend a lot of time on and watercolors for the quicker projects.

“I’m kind of a perfectionist so I take a while on each piece. I’ll sit down with something for hours and revisit it a few times for several weeks,” she said.

“Sometimes I find art therapeutic but other times it is the exact opposite because I’m such a perfectionist. I have to have everything exactly