By Chris Bavender
Ty Vinson may live miles from Carmel but that hasn’t stopped the high school student from finding inspiration among the city’s sculptures. This inspiration led to a winning entry in a hometown art contest.
“My cousin Tammy lives in Carmel and has always liked the sculpture of the sailor kissing the nurse (Unconditional Surrender). So, one day we were passing by it and I was just fascinated by it,” the 14-year-old freshman said. “I knew the annual chalk contest in Martinsville was coming up and she gave me the idea to do that (the statue).”
“Ty first gave me a black and white chalk piece, which of course has a place on my wall,” Tamra Ross said. “He added his own creativity and put several subjects in the background, too. Then, he used that piece for this year’s sidewalk chalk contest in Martinsville.”
Vinson won first place in in People’s Choice category and second place in the Most Original category.
“You can use any color chalk you want but the original picture was in black and white so I decided to stay with that theme because I thought it looked nicer,” Vinson said.
Vinson has always had an artistic side.
“As long as I can remember I have always liked art – pretty much ever since I was a baby. They told me I used to always draw and paint,” he said. “I just like the beauty of it – what you can do with art. It is my creative outlet.”
Vinson said inspiration is all around him, he said.
“I like to go outside and get ideas or I will look things up online and then draw them,” Vinson said. “I draw probably every day and have gone through 10 sketch books already in the last two years. Even in school I find myself doodling on the side of homework papers.”
He credits Ross for being his cheerleader.
“It really helps. Like I said, I’ve liked art pretty much all my life but I probably wouldn’t be as big into it as I am if it weren’t for Tammy,” he said.
Vinson hopes his next trip to Carmel will lead to inspiration for yet another work of art.
