Beauty from ashes

Uptown Kellogg hasn’t exactly been a beacon of hope over the past few years, with businesses struggling to stay open, and then, more recently, the McConnell Hotel fire.

However, a local Kellogg High School student has been doing her part to bring some beauty to an otherwise sad area.

Sam Bryant, a sophomore at KHS, began painting a section of one of the more decrepit buildings on McKinley Avenue a few weeks ago, using her own unique artistic abilities to create a beautiful image.

But her path to the painting is one that shows off Bryant’s personality, one of understood structure, but also brimming with creative compulsion.

“I love art,” Bryant said. “I was inspired to get into art by mom (Cheryl) because she is an amazing artist. She had some Bob Ross DVD’s and there a few that I would watch with her. And then in sixth grade I took some private art lessons, but after awhile I decided to stop because she was very strict, she was a great teacher, but I wanted to do art the way I saw it and the way I pictured it. If I can’t do it that way then it really doesn’t sit well with me.”

After responding to a Facebook post asking for someone to paint the storefront, Bryant began to put her creative mind to work to decide just what would be painted.

She found a quote that really stood out to her.

“I will not be another flower picked for my beauty and left to die. I will be wild, difficult to find, and impossible to forget.” – Erin Van Vuren

Something about this quote struck a chord with Bryant, who then created an image around those words.

“I was looking at quotes and when I found the one I decided to use it really made sense to me,” Bryant said. “Our society has gotten to a point where it seems like looks are the only thing that matters, but looks only last so long and then those relationships that were based off of looks will be gone. I decided to use a picture of a Tiger in there because they are everything that quote represents. It’s a big powerful, beautiful animal. It’s a leader and doesn’t follow or conform to what others want.”

Bryant isn’t finished yet either, the initial painting is only the first part of a three-phase project that she is going to do on the old storefront.