Julie Allison: How Art Set Her Free
By Alexia Sang
When most people think about art they picture paint on a canvas or pencil drawings in a sketchbook, but art is more than just brush strokes and colors. Art is about creating something that’s your own, and most artists can attest that art can have the power to turn a bad day into a good one and can help you through the tough times. For Julie Allison, a Junior at Owasso High School, it’s just that. For her, art is an escape, it’s a way of creating something that’s hers and it’s a reminder of the small pleasures in life that are often overlooked.
Growing up, Allison’s father was in the military until right before she started the second grade. Allison explains, “Growing up we never really did anything, because dad was in the military so we moved all the time, and after he quit the military, we had no money, so we still didn’t do anything.”
photo taken by Alexia Sang
Allison’s home life and relationship with her father was rough as a child, but art was free and always available. She recalls memories of building cities out of cardboard boxes and using art and her imagination to create entire alternate worlds with her friends. “It was my escape,” said Allison.
From a young age, Allison’s older sister stepped up to serve as a role model, “She’s four years older than me and because of our family circumstances she matured faster than most so I looked up to her as a mother figure”
Allison credits her discovery of art to her older sister and she adds, “My family isn’t creative at all, but my sister loved painting and drawing. She found a way to be creative in a household of chaos and she taught me there’s more to just the boring and chaotic life we had... I could have something that was mine”
Art was a way for Allison to be free in a way that she didn’t experience at home. Allison explains that her father had a rough childhood and, without having good role models of his own, developed some bad habits while raising them, “Because we’re his children he sees us as a part of him and so anything we do, he does. When we do something great, he takes credit for it.”
Allison claims that art was the one thing that was hers. “He couldn’t take it from me,” she states.
Photo taken by Alexia Sang
Referring to a pair of Converses she’s personalized with just a sharpie and her imagination Allison said, “These are mine and only mine, they might not look the best, but they’re me and it makes me so happy every time I see them.”
She went into more detail by saying, “I felt trapped by my life and circumstances, but my sister found art and showed me that art can help me get through it. It gave me something to do, something that was mine, and helped me focus on the little things, the little pleasures in life, instead of my problems. Little things like my shoes.”
Art continues to play a pivotal role in Allison’s life as she’s involved in Poetry club, Journalism and Creative Writing, Art club and enjoys hobbies such as knitting in her free time.
Through art, Allison was given the ability to let the pencil move freely across the page, she was given an outlet to create and express herself however she saw fit. At home Allison felt trapped, but with art, she was free.