Nurturing her passion
Twelve-year-old Sydney Mines girl is a painter, crafter
Her parents aren’t sure where she gets it, but 12-year-old Jillian Scott has talent to spare when it comes to creating art.
The Sydney Mines Middle School student has been dabbling in arts and crafts for a few years now. She is a regular at the annual Christmas craft fairs here on the Northside and says the time spent working on and selling her projects is important to her.
“I love creating things, I like to make hair bows, jewelry and ornaments from sea glass and other things. It is fun to take them to the craft shows and see how much people like them. It is also fun when I sell something — it makes me happy.”
Scott has had a lot of time to work on her projects these past few months. She said she is fortunate to have her creativity to fall back on because not being in school can get boring at times.
“I was looking for ways to spend some of my free time and wanted to try something different. I had painted in the past, but only a little bit every now and then. I wanted to get into it a little more seriously, so I decided to check online for classes on how to paint.
“I really like the landscapes and I liked what artist Bob Ross was painting. I like his style so that is what I tried. I found painting trees and outdoor scenes and animals was very relaxing so I kept watching the videos and the more I practised the better I got at it.”
Scott has gotten so prolific over the past few months with her painting that she has literally filled a wall in her basement with all of her creations.
“I just love painting, I have painted a lot of pictures in the past little while and my mom was running out of places to put them. She decided that she would make a wall in our basement and now all you can see down there are my pictures.
“It is nice when people say that I am talented. It is great that other people like what I paint. I give some of my pieces away and I am working on a bunch now so that I can sell them at the craft fair in the fall when it comes back this year.”
Being the friendly and socially motivated person that she is makes it easy for Scott to share her talents with others.
She loves attending the craft shows, but not just to showcase her own creations. She simply does it to spend time with her grandmother, Peggy Scott.
“I have been going to the craft fairs to help my gram. She is a crafter, she makes quilts and things like that. She is also a great baker and I spend a lot of time with her baking cookies and fudge. Some of the most fun I have is with my gram.”
As an only child, Scott knows the value of giving back. She assists on Sundays as an altar server at Holy Family Parish in Sydney Mines. Each year she uses the money she makes from her crafting to assist children at Christmas through the Giving Tree program at her church.
When she is not busy painting, she likes to dance. She is a member of D&R Dance in North Sydney. Unfortunately, since COVID-19 started she hasn’t been able to attend classes, but she is looking forward to returning soon.
“I have been dancing for many years and I love it. I love to go every week and I go to competitions. We haven’t been able to do that and I miss it a lot because it was a big part of my life.”
As a Grade 7 student, Scott says she really likes school. She said she will be disappointed if she can’t return in September because of the pandemic.
“I have been hearing some people say that we might not get back to school in September because of a second wave of COVID-19. I will be very sad if I can’t. I like school and I miss a lot of things when I can’t go every day. It is just not the same when you are in school from home.”
Jillian is the daughter of proud parents Kerri and Derek Scott of Sydney Mines.