A Red Deer teen is using some of her time spent social distancing to work on art for her neighbourhood.
Haley Abrahamsz, 17, a student at Notre Dame High School, recently created chalk drawings of a horse and dinosaur on the sidewalk near her home.
“It was very nice outside and it kind of sucks being stuck inside, so I just thought I’d go outside and draw some stuff,” said Abrahamsz.
“I have a lot of experience drawing both dinosaurs and horses, because I love them so much, so I just decided to draw those.”
Abrahamsz said she was hoping to create even more chalk drawings this week, but Wednesday’s rain has delayed those plans.
“I am hoping on having a whole week where it’s not going to rain, so I can make more,” she said, adding drawing outdoors on the cement took a physical toll.
“Right now, my hands are all sunburned and my fingers are so torn apart from rubbing on the sidewalk – it hurts a lot.”
Abrahamsz said she isn’t too sure what she wants to be when she’s out of high school, but “I think I’d like to be an artist.”
Her mother, Colleen Abrahamsz, said she’s amazed by the growth of her daughter’s artistic ability.
“When she was really little, she loved horses and she really wanted to draw a horse, but she kept crying because she couldn’t draw that well at the time.
“I kept saying, ‘Practice makes perfect. If you keep practising, you’ll get better. I promise.’ But holy man, she blows us out of the water with her art now,” said Abrahamsz.
The mother said when she posted photos of the drawings on Facebook, people were “shocked” to learn they were made with chalk.
“I had to prove to some people. They were like, ‘That looks like paint. Are you sure that’s chalk?’ So I took some pictures with the chalk,” she said.
“A long time ago, I ran day homes and I ended up getting some chalk and there was brown, black and tan – you don’t see those colours often.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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