KEYSER — Recent Keyser High School grad Katrina Allen has been creating artwork “since I was old enough to hold a crayon.”
While most youngsters surrender their crayons for other interests, however, Katrina has progressed to pencils, watercolors, oils and even soft sculpture. She can't think of much she'd rather do than draw or paint, and her efforts have paid off with acceptance as a freshman this fall in the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
“She's very creative and very, very talented,” says Alison Bunting, who has given Katrina space in her Heartworks Gallery on Main Street to not only work on her art but also to offer it for sale.
Bunting, an artist in her own right who is a 1971 graduate of the Maryland Institute of Art, is especially excited about Katrina's opportunity to further develop her skills in Pittsburgh. So excited, in fact, that she has worked up a special deal with the teen for Saturday's Strawberry Festival.
During the day-long event, Katrina will not only be in the window of Heartworks working on some of her own art, but she will also be taking requests for caricatures.
And every penny that she earns during the festival will go toward her tuition at the Art Institute.
Katrina and Alison first met when something in the Heartworks window caught the young artist's attention.
“I saw the word 'art' in the window and asked if I could come in and sell some art,” Katrina recalls, smiling.
Soon, Alison's display window was full of oils, watercolors, and pencil drawings which the budding artist had created.
“She has tremendous potential,” Alison said, noting that the artworks have caught the interest of several passers-by.
Oneof her oils, titled “Bi-Polar,” has been of particular interest to people who have stopped to admire the teen's handiwork.
“When Katrina told one lady that this picture was called 'Bi-Polar,' the lady said, ‘That's exactly how the brain is connected in a bi-polar person!’”
Another work, “Opposites attract,” is actually a scene out of story line which Katrina has been developing with a friend. The story centers around a fictional planet called Rath, and she hopes to someday publish it in a book, complete with her own illustrations.
As for her major at the Art Institute, she's thinking about computer came design — an area where, once again, she could incorporate her world of Rath.
Katrina says she'll work with just about any medium, but she mostly draws with pencils “because you can usually get your hands on one and you can use them to make just about any texture.”
She also likes to work with “paint when I can get it.”
The young artist also likes to incorporate the latest technology in her creativity, using a Wacom tablet, which allows her to draw on the tablet, with  the work comeing up on her computer screen.
Recent visitors to the downtown area have already seen some of Katrina's work, as she and 9-year-old cousin Tori Patterson made the paper strawberries which many businesses are currently displaying in anticipation of the Strawberry Festival.
“We had an agreement that they would help me promote the Strawberry Festival,” Alison explained. “They painted the berries on my old cat food bags, and so we were able to recycle and promote the festival at the same time.”
Everyone is invited to stop by Heartworks to observe Katrina at work and help the young artist as she prepares for her education.