Inside look on Anisha Patel’s creative path and what inspired her
Elise Kaylor
Staff Writer
Witnessing a person tapping into their creative side is inspirational to all that strive to find that within themselves. Art is not only a unique form of personal expression, but it also allows artists to explore new worlds. Through her paintings and poems, Anisha Patel is one of these people that showcases this idea.
Anisha Patel is a senior at American High School. Lately, she has been noticing a shift in her passions and priorities.
“I think especially during quarantine and the beginning of it is when I started doing more artistic stuff. Because I had this entire year to myself and was able to prioritize myself, it allowed me to realize I wanted to become more involved in my creative side. And I also became in touch with my words and my thoughts.”
Patel’s shift into her different reality was very apparent. So apparent that many of her friends noticed. Bryan Tieu, Patel’s friend of 6 years, mentions the ways he could tell Patel was getting more into crafty things.
“Before, Anisha didn’t seem to be very invested in her creativity, but I could tell that there is still some creative ability in her. I think it was pretty cool that she made that switch to put more time towards being creative, rather than spending time on social media,” he mentions. “For example, she’s making me a Pinterest board with pictures and items that she thinks suits my personality. She has also made me a Spotify playlist recently. So it was just little things like that which made me notice her change.”
Tieu wasn’t the only one who noticed this. Mr. Ramirez, Patel’s teacher of two years now, noticed a change in her writing.
“Based on what I’ve seen of Anisha’s writings in my previous classes, I could tell she was very much direct and just answering the question given to her. But now with her sharing her poetry, I feel like she’s very creative. She expresses a lot of her emotions and experiences in her poetry. I think she’s more of herself because I could tell she is describing her personal thoughts and ideas.”
Patel agrees with this idea because she mentions how her poems are based on what she is feeling, so it is more personal to her.
“I started writing poems because I was having a lot of thoughts in my head that I just needed a way to get out and express. Writing poems is more direct and to the point of my own words,” she states. “I also think my passion for books inspired my writing as well. I’ve grown up reading books from so many different types of authors. And this may be confusing but I tried to find my own voice while reading theirs. So books inspired me to have my own voice and have a moment to myself.”
Anisha keeps a journal and writes in it whenever she feels like she needs to get her emotions out. This is an example of one of her many poems, she says “I wrote this on January 14. ‘It’s all different now, time was the illusion we seemed to perceive, everything has changed. Simply and drastically. I stare at the clock, minutes turned into weeks then becoming years. The hourglass has finished.’”
However, poems are not the only way Patel expresses herself. She also creates paintings and collages.
“Honestly, my brother is the one who got me into painting. He’s always painted when we were younger and I always wanted to try to be as good as him. Also reading inspired me because I was able to picture what I see when I read and then I would try to bring it to life as much as I can,” she explains. “However, I’m not one to paint random pictures or have pictures drawn out. I usually do a lot of abstract and color-coordinated paintings. I think this just lets me be free with my art and do whatever I want with it. It makes me feel in control.”
Patel’s love for the arts not only helped her express herself but also played a role in her decision of what she wants to do in life.
“Instead of just going into a different world with books I wanted to create [new worlds]. This made me realize that I wanted to go into an English major. I think literature and philosophy or anything in that kind of realm just seems like a really good fit for me. The arts just brought something out of me that I’ve never realized I had such a passion for.”
Anisha’s passion drives her to live her best life. Because of this deep connection that Patel has with art, she feels more herself. And because of this, she knows the direction she wants to take in life.
Audios of the interview:
Eagle Era 