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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UTRGV chapter.

While many of us spent the summer vacationing, and enjoying time with friends one freshman, Ana Marcela Cantu, spent it completing an art project three years in the making. Ana Marcela has been taking art classes since she was six years old. She has been passionate about art ever since, and is a truly talented artist.

Three years ago at the end of 2014, her mother asked her to make a mural for a blank wall in her house. When she was laying down one day looking at the wall she was able to picture the idea for her mural. Shortly after she began working on the mural. She wanted it to be a way to express herself, and a gift to her mother. 

The mural was approximately 10 feet by 13 feet in size, which along with her attention to detail was the reason it took so long to complete. The mural was not the only art project she worked on during the three years; in between working on the mural she also painted dozens of other paintings not to mention sketches. This summer she was determined to complete the mural after three years. She spent the summer completing the final details on the mural and making sure it was to her liking.

Finally at the end of the summer she completed the project she had spent three long years working hard to complete. “I felt really accomplished and proud of myself, this was something that I worked on, and something that let me express myself. It wasn’t an assignment, I didn’t have to meet any requirements, and it’s something I can look at now and remember the work I put into making it” Ana Marcela said about finally completing the mural. 

The mural is an abstract piece of art, Ana Marcela’s vision for the mural was for it to be many pieces that fit together to become one like a puzzle. As she was painting the mural it started to match her vision, every piece began to fit perfectly together almost like a puzzle.

Now that the mural is complete, she wants people who visit her home to see it from the corner of their eye, and examine it. She wants everyone to see something different every time they look at it. Ultimately she wants for those who see the mural to appreciate the work that went into it.

Now that her biggest art project ever is complete Ana Marcela, continues to work on other art. This school year alone she’s made several art pieces including a sketch of sixty chairs and a book cover made completely of construction paper for her design class. She is also working on another personal project, a painting of her grandmother, because she has always supported her and her artwork. Ana Marcela hopes to one day become an architect, and until then she is going to continue painting and making art, which is what she loves doing. You can see more of her artwork in the pictures below. 

Kennedy Castillo is a student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley majoring in communications. She is the founder of her personal brand Kennedy C Media consisting of KennedyCBlog.com, The Simply Kennedy Podcast and Kennedy Castillo Youtube Channel. She previously worked with Riddle & Bloom as an Amazon Prime Student Ambassador. She is a freelance writer with published articles in Woman2Woman Magazine, Glue Magazine, Lune Magazine, Vinazine and Her Culture Magazine. She is the current Campus Correspondent and President of the UTRGV Her Campus Chapter and previously worked as a Her Campus Chapter Advisor, Her Campus Chapter Expansion Intern and Her Campus High School Ambassador Program Advisor.
UTRGV Class of 2018  Mass Comm Major Mexican-American Studies Minor