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Raised in the countryside of Saint Paul on a farm, 17-year-old Erica Harker admits that though her family is drawn to the agricultural path, she’s choosing something a bit different.

Earlier this spring, Harker won Best in Show during the Mabel B. Annis Brown County Student Art Competition at the Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville, Ind. In addition to $250, Harker also received personal recognition from the competition’s judge, artist Jeff Klinker.

"Meeting and getting recognized by Jeff Klinker was a huge surprise," Harker says. "While I'm not much involved in Brown County as a whole, I heard about his talent through the grapevine. It was an enormous honor to receive the award."

The nearly 30-year-old competition was open to student artists from more than one half dozen surrounding counties, including Brown.

The 17-year-old credits her art teacher, Mrs. Sexton, with introducing her to the competition. Lucky for Harker, she already had some pieces prepared that would meet the competition’s guideline/parameters – a Pointillism style Short-fin Mako shark.

Introduced to the artistic style in the 7^th grade, it quickly became a favorite go-to for Harker.

“I quickly fell in love with the style and started making pieces like it ever since.”

The Pointillism technique utilizes dots to produce a range of shaded/toned marks that when viewed as a whole create a picture.

“The process was very easy because it was already framed, and just needed taken to the gallery,” Harker says.

Harker says prior to the March competition, she’d only participated in is 4-H each year with her art submissions.

“In the future I’d like to make more larger 3-Dimensional pieces, using cardboard, paper mâché, and clay,” Harker says.

Since she was young, the soon-to-be Hauser High School senior says she’s always been interested in art. It wasn’t until around the age of 10 or so that she started tackling more complicated and involved artistic compositions, Harker shares.

Currently, her concentration is still Pointillism-focused this time with a jellyfish subject, she says.

Inspiration is all around, Harker says.

“Lots of things inspire me,” she says. “My friends, my pets, my hobbies, franchises I enjoy, and just things I find interesting in general.”

As she continues to chart her own creative path, Harker says she believes she’ll likely continue her artistic studies in college, but as a minor concentration.

“I don’t think I’ll major in art in college,” she says.  “I plan to go to IU Bloomington for Foreign Languages, but I may take some minors there in art.”

When it comes to overcoming creative block, personal photographs and everyday conversations oftentimes offer great jumping off points for creative avenues, she says.

To other aspiring artists out there, persistence is the key to growth, she says.

“Keep practicing,” she says. “Draw anything and everything that interests you.”