Gina Selah loves art for two main reasons. She is proud of the skill she developed as a youngster and art is something she has continuously honed over the years by putting in a lot of time, practice and taking classes.
More importantly, Selah, an eighth-grade religious education student in St. Mary of the Lakes Parish, Medford, sees being an artist as a gift, one that she hopes she can share with “other kids who aspire to be an artist.”
While Selah can’t remember exactly when she started drawing, she said she was about six years old when she began working on arts and crafts.
“From then on, I grew a strong passion for it,” she said.
Of her favorite works of art, Selah enjoys drawing realistic portraits but often “likes to throw in fantastical elements and effects that make my art feel more personal to me,” she said. She noted that she usually draws in the mediums of graphite pencil, colored pencil and different kinds of paint, and she’ll occasionally mix different media into one drawing.
Among the places where some of Selah’s artwork might be found is in her parish community where she draws and colors placemats for an area soup kitchen. She’s also helped with painting and decorating parish floats that are in the town’s Halloween parade.
A prestigious honor came for Selah earlier this year when she was recognized on a national level by the Missionary Childhood Association. Selah was one of 24 young people from throughout the country to have her artwork selected as a winner in the MCA’s Christmas Artwork.
The MCA, which is one of four Pontifical Mission Societies, promotes mission and global awareness while encouraging children to share their faith through their prayers and generosity. Every year the MCA invites children in Catholic schools and parishes nationwide to submit their Christmas-themed drawings for the contest.
Selah’s entry was a depiction of the Holy Family in the manger and the Star of Bethlehem could be seen in the distance, leading the three magi to the Son of God.
“I tried to show through the expressions of the subjects that he was a miracle that changed the world for the better,” she said.