By India Pearman
Staff Writer
Senior Lucy McDonald paints a positive light on her past four years at Costa to help herself, and others, appreciate the good in their past experiences.
McDonald spent approximately 15 hours over the course of three days creating “The Book of Gratitude,” where she reflected on significant people in her life, painting a total of 23 images that remind her of experiences that they shared. The book is filled with paintings consisting of symbolic drawings of objects accompanied by short thank you notes.
“I wanted to thank people in a way that was anonymous because I didn’t want some people to feel more valued than other people,” McDonald said. “A few of my close friends got jokingly angry with me that I wouldn’t tell them who was who, unless they guessed it right.”
The hand-painted images in “The Book of Gratitude” were created using acrylic paint and Crayola colored markers and crayons. She then scanned these images onto her computer and composed them together into an eight page book. So far, McDonald has printed a total of 55 copies of her book, and will print more as long as people continue to ask for them. They are currently free if she is direct messaged on her Instagram @lucyartdrop.
“I describe my style as ‘childlike illustrations,’” McDonald said. “I am not a good painter at all but I think it is really calming. I had fun with it and tried to make things as realistic as possible without focusing too much on the style. I knew that whether it was silly or serious art, that the person would be able to recognize that it was for them.”
The people that McDonald features in her book range from some of her closest friends, to those who she does not have a strong connection with anymore, and it is awkward between them now. Instead of continuing a negative energy towards that person, McDonald said that she thought that it would be better to focus on the ways in which they have positively influenced who she is.
“I would recommend this book to everyone because it is a cute little book that everyone can understand because it is very simple and authentic,” Junior Toby Kamish said. “With all the negative stuff going around today, I think that having a bright and positive outlook on life is very important and I think that putting that out into the world is really important, because once you put out brightness and positivity, it’s going to loop back to you.”
The meaning behind the title, “The Book of Gratitude,” is significant since McDonald wanted to look back at her high school experiences with a positive outlook and tie up loose ends before leaving for college. McDonald believes that a big step in appreciating all of the positive outcomes of her experiences is having gratitude for all of those, good or bad, who have entered her life.
“It is not only something that other people can connect to if they are in my life, but it makes them think about the gratitude they share for other people in their own lives,” McDonald said. “It makes them start thinking about the people who they cherish and the people who have touched their lives and influenced them.”
Learn more about Gratitude here.
McDonald will continue to add to “The Book of Gratitude” as she reflects more people who have had a valuable impact on her. McDonald is a photographer who has always loved art. She plans to continue passion by studying art in college and focusing on art as a career path. Her favorite part about her book was the reaction that she received from both people she barely knows, and her close friends, being so interested in it.
“It also made me happy at how other people started thinking about their own lives and the people in situations just like me,” McDonald said. “I think it is really important to radiate positivity into this world and I really hope that other people see this and think, ‘I have bad people in my life, but they have had positive impacts on me too.’”
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