Paint splatters on Bella Muir’s canvas as she lets her creativity shine. Art is a great way for Bella to showcase her creativity and talents and allows her to express herself freely.
Bella started creating art in elementary school. People doubted her early on but that only pushed her to work harder. “When I was younger, I was told that I wasn’t really good at it. That kind of made me push hard to do it because I’m a very stubborn person and very determined to work on it and push through it,” says Muir.
In elementary school and middle school, Bella wasn’t recognized much. But when she got to high school, things changed. People started to notice her talent.
Bella is not new to finding success, having recently published two of her tremendous pieces. “I got two of my pieces published. The one last year was called Sitting Artist. For the Sitting Artist, I made myself in a studio sitting, and it made me feel like I can accomplish my dreams.”
She also received special recognition from the Westmoreland Commissioner and was published in the Latrobe Bulletin twice for her significant achievements. Bella is an incredible two-time published artist while still being a high school student making her achievements extremely impressive.
“Then I got published again this summer for Toy Graveyard. I just really like both of them because the Toy Graveyard is nothing but colored pencil and it’s a really big one so it made me feel like I can do anything if I put my mind to it.” Toy Graveyard is a piece that shows Bella how much she can accomplish with a pencil in her hand.
Getting published is a huge deal and a dream for many aspiring artists. When Bella first experienced this she was beyond grateful. “I was really excited because I was at a lifeguard training and so it was just after a long day I was really excited that I actually got published. Everyone always said that being an artist isn’t a real job and you can’t do this so when I saw that I was actually published it was like I can do it, and I felt so relieved,” said Muir.
Inspiration flows through Bellas’s work. Her art displays her passion in all her pieces. “Mostly I look at things around me. I like to look at reference photos and mostly focus on realistic drawings,” says Bella.
Outside of the classroom, Bella thrives in being a part of her community and helping others. “I like being part of when we do volunteer work and when we work with kids. I just like doing things where we give back to the community, and our artwork can be shown to other people. Things like that make me feel like art can be shared with others,” shared Muir.
Muir has been an active member of the Latrobe art community. She has helped kids at Latrobe Elementary School, is a member of the Art National Honor Society, is an art docent, and much more. This year alone Bella has been involved frequently in her community having recently painted Christmas windows in Latrobe and participated in the Ho Ho Hope event in Latrobe where she helped to paint kids’ faces. Bella loves to share her passion and talent with others.
The best work comes from challenges. When navigating through much difficulty Bella finds a way to master her pieces. “Starting in 9th grade, I was not good at ceramics because in elementary and middle school, we only do a ceramic piece once a year and in 9th grade you know we’re doing that all the time so you get a little better,” she said. ”Now I’d say I’m pretty good at sculpting faces and actually doing a lot better than I was then. My current piece I’m working on that really challenged me was a Beetlejuice teapot that actually works and you can use it. It’s really cool.”
Muir also participated in a workshop with a professional oil painter to help advance her skills. She worked with her this year and last year at the Latrobe Art Center having met through Mrs. Page. It really helped Bella learn how to become a professional artist. It also helped her to understand how she can work on a job and be a professional artist at the same time
Bella’s individuality flows through her devices as a way to express herself freely. “I like using oil paints and I like drawing mostly but sometimes I use ceramics. But I’ve worked with a lot of things. I’ve tried mixing things up a lot, and I think the weirdest thing I’ve ever tried doing was glassblowing. That was a really hard try,” shares Muir.
Her creativity won’t stop here. Bella plans to attend school in Italy for four years before going to Chicago. She will attend the American University of Rome to earn a fine arts and a history degree.
