This is my home. This is the place that I grew up. I have spent my whole life growing up in this building and neighborhood. Where you are from, says a lot about who you grow up to be. I was raised in a loving community where everyone knows your name and you’re friendly with your neighbors. My parents love my sister and I so much they put the best into our home. They filled it with the little they could get and have kept it in perfect shape for more than I have been alive. My home is a place of comfort where I know my family is. Although we argue and I can’t even stand it sometimes, there is no better place than having everyone together. Now that things are changing and people have gotten older, I miss having everyone together like we used to.

I decided to make a turtle out of my jewelery container, color pencils, a hair clip and a scrunchie. I was thinking of what I could make and as I started looking around my room I thought the round shape would be perfect for a turtle and then to top it off i wanted to find something green for the head and I found a green scrunchie and color pencils for his legs. As well as a hair clip in the back for his little tail.

Describe your artistic process (why did you choose this leaf? what did you notice about it? why did you choose the materials that you used to create your art?)

I actually didn’t choose this leaf, the girl I babysat picked it up as we were walking home from school. I asked her if she could help me pick a nice one. She picked this one and I thought it was nice and small to put in my pocket. I noticed how small and green it was and how soft it felt. I chose color pencils because I could easily make the outline and color in the leaf and I think they look very similar!