Loy Norrix freshman Kierra Walker likes to relax her mind by painting on water bottles in her free time and when she is done she gives her masterpieces to her family and friends. Walker first started painting water bottles after being inspired by social media artists. 

“I like to paint on water bottles because it is relaxing and also it’s challenging,”said Walker.

Walker had a clear water bottle and she decided she wanted to change her boring, clear bottle into something more interesting. Walker was inspired by artists on social media profiles and she decided to make a custom water bottle of her own. She got her paints and brushes and was ready to get started on making a custom water bottle. In her house, she starts to work on her first water bottle. For her first painting her inspiration was a Bob Ross theme. Bob Ross was a famous artist that made landscape art on a popular PBS show in the 80s and 90s.

During her painting Walker did have some struggles because it was something new that she had never tried before. 

“My first water bottle was hard, and I had to start over a few times while painting it,” said Walker.

After a few hours, her first water bottle had mountains and a beautiful sky on it. 

After her first water bottle, Walker received many compliments on her work. Many people asked if she could paint their water bottle because of the cool painting Walker had on hers. Walker said there were many requests from friends and family and later she became very busy with painting. 

“It’s stressful and relaxing at the same time,” said Walker but she just wants to paint for fun.

According to the article, “The Mental Health Benefits of Art Therapy” written by Mary Ann Cohen it states: “creating art can be used to relieve stress and [to] relax your mind and body.” Many people in the world use art to relieve stress and art is a good hobby for anyone.

 During a study from an associate professor in PhD Program in Creative Arts Therapies, “researchers found that 75 percent of the participants’ cortisol (the primary stress hormone) levels lowered during their 45 minutes of making art”. Likewise, art is a helpful way for Walker to let go of the stress from school and other things.

For painting a water bottle it can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days depending on the design that is being painted. So far, Walker has painted Disney characters and landscapes, but she is able to paint whatever is given to her. Waler states that her hardest painting was another Bob Ross inspired landscape on a water bottle, but this one was for one of her friends. 

When painting something for another person it’s different because you don’t know what their reaction will be. 

“I tried to make it perfect which made it a bit harder,” said Walker. She spent three straight hours on a painting for her friend. Luckily, her friend was really happy with the way the painting outcome was on her water bottle.

Walker has so far painted six water bottles, but she wants to try to paint other objects as well. Walker is interested in starting to paint more flat objects like a pair of shoes.