Throughout our lives, our childhoods especially, magic is something that we all try to believe in and cherish. But as we grow older, we tend to lose a little bit of that magic in all the things that come at us in life.
Senior Caitlyn Muller is not one of those people.
Caitlyn Muller is an artist who specializes in creating fantastical scenes utilizing myths and nature from all over the world. Muller uses acrylic paints and illustrations, among other mediums, to bring these images to life.
“With my subject matter, I usually paint mythical creatures and things like that,” Muller said. “I like to tell stories and use folklore and such to make comments about today’s world and see how [folklore] connects to our modern world.”
One of Muller’s favorite paintings she’s done is ‘The Dragon and the Unicorn.’ This painting symbolizes how people tend to take disagreements to extreme lengths and how that can drive us apart from one another.
“[In] ‘The Dragon and the Unicorn,” Muller said. “ I mostly wanted to portray them fighting and how in today’s world, we are all fighting with each other in every way, but we come from the same place as people. Like [how] dragons and unicorns come from the same place [in European] folklore.”
Though every piece of Muller’s art is unique, her processes start out the same, coming up with an idea and figuring out how to bring it all together.
“Generally, it’s a lot of just starting with something I want to focus on and how I can connect that to folklore,” Muller said. “Then usually I do five to 10 sketches of what I’d want it to look like before actually going into the finished piece and fully flesh it out.”
Unlike the stories Muller illustrates, her paintbrush is not magical. Her talent has been practiced and learned, and oddly enough, so has her inspiration.
“I’ve spent a lot of time just on the side watching, which I found I liked to do,” Muller said. “I just like to be on the side, observe and take it in. Then, [I] try to take what I see and transform it into something people can look at and enjoy.”
Muller’s art is a lesson in visual storytelling that weaves wonder into the human experience, something that tends to be disregarded.
“I’ve always loved creating and using my art to get a message across to other people [in a way] words can’t exactly do,” Muller said. “Art is my passion, it’s what I always do. I want to become an art teacher. I want to help other kids in the future be inspired [like] I was to create more.”
