Carabeth Chrisawn using her talents to encourage

Published 3:59 pm Thursday, August 31, 2023

Happy Valley Junior Carabeth Chrisawn recently took home a remarkable 103 blue ribbons at the Appalachian State Fair and the title of the Top 4-H exhibitor. Her projects ranged from acrylics and clay to restoration, but for Carabeth, who can’t remember a time she wasn’t painting or drawing, her main desire is just to encourage others.

This marks the 5^th year of Carabeth submitting pieces to the Fair. Many of the entries have to do with crafts, homemade entries and deals with subject matter such as farm life and fantasy pieces. “Anything I take to the fair I either sell or give away as Christmas presents; this year, I submitted a total of 304 pieces”. Each year, you have to submit new pieces for the Appalachian Fair to be judged; so on average, that is her completing nearly a piece per day. She dabbles in various modes of art; one of her winning pieces this year was a restoration of a Buddha statue she cleaned up, painted, shaded and refurbished that was being eaten up with rust.

But above everything, Carabeth just wants to brighten the days of others, “a lot of people can’t afford these real expensive pieces of artwork, so I will just make something that will make them happy. This year I even submitted a full mural at the fair” Chrisawn added. “When I was younger, I just started drawing but I got better and I thought I could use my artwork to make other people happy and for me personally it also helps relieve stress” Chrisawn shared. “Eventually as I started to improve, I thought I could give away my art to make people’s lives better and make people smile,” Chrisawn said.

Long term Chrisawn would like to go college for social work and is currently in dual enrollment at Happy Valley, but, she sees artwork remaining a part of who she is her entire life. “I will use my art for anyone who needs a project done,” Chrisawn said. Besides her art Carabeth likes to hike and take care of her animals, including her chickens and 10 cats which she has adopted from animal shelters; she also does speech competitions and demonstration boards. Carabeth desires to encourage other young artists to not be afraid to show off their work. “Keep focusing on your art, have a goal, don’t let others dictate what you do, do what you like and think about what you want to do; what makes you happy and works best for you,” Chrisawn said. Carabeth also does commission work and for those who are interested, you can go to her Facebook page and contact her or her parents.