Hello There,

My name is Kayla Messina, I am currently attending the University of Alaska Fairbanks for a Bachelors in Art with a Minor in Art History. My official concentration for my degree program is in Metal Smithing and Jewelry, but I am also a self taught painter. I have a preference for acrylic paint, but I also dabble in watercolor and ink painting. My house is covered in an eclectic collection of my paintings, as I have a hard time letting go of my creations, as well as artwork from my artistic friends and family members.

I tend to gravitate towards art that is humorous or artwork I can find humor in, one of my best examples being a piece of art I made myself. For a previous Art History class we had to recreate a work of art and I chose Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, but instead of human disciples I made them into sheep.

Outside of the academic world, when I have free time, I really like watching art-based videos online. Whether it be Bob Ross on Netflix, time-lapse painting on Instagram, or art restoration videos on Youtube. In fact, just last night I watched this video on the conservation of The Assassination of Archimedes:

It would be more effective to explain my relationship to art in an autobiography. I don’t want to sound pretentious, but art has always been a part of my life and is such an integral part of who I am as a person that if I removed it from my history I would not know who I was.