In nearly any scenario, being a middle child often leads to a feeling of being overlooked or lost in the shuffle when it comes to vying for attention amongst siblings. But for seventeen-year-old Winamac High School student Morgan Hinz, there is a lot of inspiration to be found in her view from the middle.
Raised in an open and artistic family, Morgan remembers being inspired by her older sister when she was a young child. “I used to just stare at her drawings that were on the wall,” the seventeen-year-old says.
By the time Morgan started attending middle school, she felt the pull of art to express her emotions and find her own
identity. She began doodling at first and soon found herself drawing everywhere at every opportunity that she found. Developing an "I don't care, just do it" attitude helped Morgan develop her artistic abilities. She credits this attitude in helping her navigate some of the more negative aspects of reality as a teen in this day and age.
“It’s like getting lost and not thinking about anything but what you are doing, and nothing else matters," she says. “It’s just that. Focusing on doing what you love.”
For Morgan, drawing is something she does every day. The results tend to be more cartoonish. She relies on painting as a means to release deep emotions or stress. Her style tends to show a mix of hyper realism with abstract imagery, although she claims her style varies with her moods.
Although she has not settled on any concrete career ideas, Morgan hopes that whatever she settles on will involve art. But wherever she lands in the future, she seems sure to hold fast to the attitude that has guided her this far.
“When I stopped caring what others thought, I lost some friends, but feel it made me a better person and artist,” she explains. “I have friends that support who I am and what I do and real people whom I can talk to and just be myself.”
And as a final word that applies to artists and non-artists alike, she offers this timeless advice. “Stop taking people’s crap and just do what you love.”