heARTfelt

It all started in first grade with a snail. The little six-year-old could draw them, and her fellow classmates were extremely impressed. Dai was “the girl” known for her art. While the other little kids were proudly drawing stick people, she could scribble down a realistic looking human. She would draw any spare second she could get. Her mother noticed her interest and decided to take her to an actual studio to learn art.

It started out easy with drawing cartoons, but Dai proved to be much more advanced than her age would suggest. She took her first fine arts class at the age of seven. The classes were more than just fun and games, and Dai learned many vital techniques for art. “I remember going home one day almost crying because the teacher was like ‘you didn’t do well today in class,’” Dai said. The classes were intense, but Dai pushed through and has not stopped since.

“She’s more focused now,” said Lydia Guo ’19, Dai’s best friend. “She used to paint things for fun, but now she focuses more on specific artwork of famous painters and less of what she wants to do, like drawing cupcakes.” Dai spends over five hours doing art each week, and goes to Meroger Fine Arts in Coralville that teaches legitimate fine art where she has been a student for five years. Dai has branched out and grown into a more serious artist, working on traditional types of artwork as opposed to cute cartoons.

The process of art is a tedious one. Countless hours, days, and even months are spent working on a single piece because it never seems to look entirely how you want it. Each edge, color, and shape must be exact. Worn down erasers and numerous crumpled papers are and all too familiar for an artist. “The most difficult part for me is telling myself to stop and move on to a different part so I won’t get too frustrated,” said Dai. But, she pushes through. She doesn’t stop until each line is precisely how she wants it, and each color is the perfect hue. She keeps going until she’s exhausted and can’t find any more tiny details to adjust. “Actually doing art is kind of frustrating, but afterwards it’s so fulfilling because you feel like you’ve accomplished something and people usually say it’s fairly good so then that feels nice as well,” Dai said.

She can do it all: water coloring, sketching, pastel painting, you name it, but her favorite has always been oil painting. “It’s kind of easy to fix and it stays forever, but it’s kind of messy,” Dai said. “You’d think by now I’d learn to not wear nice clothes to art class. I always find these random stains on my jeans.” The process is long because oil painting must be done in separate sections so the paint can dry. The longest Dai has spent on a painting is three months, but that includes her being semi-unproductive and nit-picky. Even though Dai enjoys multi tasking by talking with friends and painting at the same time, truly paying attention produces great results. “After you focus for a while and intensely paint, you can kind of feel it. You’re shoulders are tense and you feel like you’ve actually been working out,” Dai said.

Dai’s big break came in junior high. She entered her work into the prestigious Scholastic art and writing contest where she received a silver key the first year and an honorable mention the next year. Then, in eighth grade, she entered the Hani Elkadi art show where she won. “It was the first show where I received a large sum of money, like a hundred bucks, for winning,” said Dai. She is continuing to grow and has sold some pieces to galleries.

Gallery • 18 Photos

Kara Wagenknecht

Art teacher Christian Aanestad has even taken notice. “I met Frances when she was an award winner in junior high and she was introduced to me by Hani Elkadi because of her strength in art,” said Aanestad. “I had her in sculpture class where she continued to impress me with her artistic abilities.”

Adjustment to high school has gone well for Dai, but it’s is hard to find time to carve out for art. She used to draw everyday to practice, but now it is almost impossible with the hefty workload. She hasn’t been very active art-wise at West, but she does do a lot outside of school. But, even though she has only taken one art class at West, Christian has already seen her talent. “She’s not intimidated by the assignment ever. She works with a really open mind and open spirit and I think that shows in her work,” Aanestad said. “It’s always evident that she enjoys what she’s doing and that makes it possible for her to have really successful pieces.”

Dai has one piece of advice for anyone who is wanting to begin art. “Come learn from me at Meroger Fine Arts because I’m a teacher there. Self advertisement done,” said Dai. Dai has just started teaching little kids this year, and works five hours at the studio each week. “She started watching her teacher teach students and then she started studying how her art teacher’s teacher taught her teacher. She started to practice with students and has gone on from there,” Guo said. Dai can tell which kids are actually committed to getting better, and which ones are there to goof off with friends. She truly believes that if a child is serious about art, he or she can definitely improve and get better even he isn’t that good at art.

As for the future, Dai would love to be able to incorporate art into her career, whether that be as a graphic designer or marketing person for a business. Art has shaped Dai into the person she is today and has made a huge impact on her life. “It’s pretty rewarding after you win something or sell a piece just to know that people have accepted your art as really nice or as something that is good in there eyes,” said Dai.