Jackson Free Press

Holly Perkins has always liked art, but it was a family-weekend adventuring trip with her parents and older sister Katie that changed the almost-a-teen-ager forever. "Maybe two years ago, we went to Vicksburg, to The Attic Gallery. I loved that place," Perkins told me emphatically, sitting on her daybed in her vivid, eclectically decorated room. "It was so cool. I had not been taught that art can be not perfect and still be good. It opened up a whole new door."

Seeing discarded pieces of molding at a building site, Perkins asked if she could have them. "I like to paint on wood," she explained. She uses acrylic paint to cover each piece with background color and then paints favorite quotes from a book of women's words or lyrics from favorite singers onto the boards.

Perkins' music tastes have evolved over the last couple of years. Back before she had heard what she calls good music, Perkins admitted she was a fan of 'N Sync, joining the throng of screaming girls at their local concert. Digging through her parents' drawer full of CDs, picking those with covers she liked, Perkins discovered classic rock and her now favorite singer, Alanis Morissette.

Perkins' creative interests run the gamut. She takes photographs with a 35 mm Canon—framed black and white shots fill the shelves of a bookcase, right beneath her small TV, decorated here and there with her hand-painted flowers. Resting against that same bookcase is the guitar Perkins is learning to play, taking lessons with a high school friend. She writes what she identifies as lyrics—not poetry.

Reading the ad for the JFP Chick Ball, Perkins had the idea that this same friend might want to join the musical line-up at the benefit for the Center for Violence Prevention. Perkins got in contact with Swetha Regunathan and learned that, while the music slots were booked, creations from female artists were still needed.

"I thought this would be a fun thing to do," she smiled shyly as she recounted the story of how five of her boards made it into the silent auction—and sold. Her first artistic foray into the world meant help for others, not surprising from someone who says she'd like to be a missionary someday.

A favorite quotation, well-suited to Perkins, sold at the auction and also hangs on her bedroom wall—Janis Joplin: "Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." Perkins realizes that, and she's making the most of it.