Jackson Free Press

Jackson artist Michaela Fisk, 23, cannot remember a time when she was not creating.

"I was always making stuff; I remember making clothes for my Barbies out of random stuff like book covers," Fisk says.

While growing up, art constantly surrounded Fisk, a Slidell, La., native.

"My mom (Linda Vicknair) is an art teacher," Fisk says. "She's always been supportive of me, and every gift I got as a kid was something creative."

Fisk came to Jackson in 2012 to study art at Belhaven University. She says that at Belhaven, she was always surrounded by other artists and creative people.

"I never felt so accepted," she says. "... [T]here are so many artistic people at Belhaven and in Fondren, I felt at home."

After graduating from Belhaven in December 2016 with a bachelor's degree in art, Fisk took a few months off from her art. She got a job at Beanfruit Coffee in February 2017, and then at Sneaky Beans in September 2017.

That February, she realized she had to return to art, so she began showcasing her work. In March 2017, she showed had an exhibit at Acorn Studios in Olde Towne Clinton in March 2017. She also had an art show at Deep South Pops in September 2017 and at the Mississippi Museum of Art's "Museum After Hours" event on Oct. 19. In December 2017, she was one of the artists for Priced to Move, Vol. 8, an event where all art is priced at under $100 at Lucky Town Brewing Company in midtown.

"I really just want to get connected to artist and build up a body of work," Fisk says.

Her favorite art mediums to work in are drawing and sculpture.

"I've always liked observant drawings," she says. "I like sitting places and looking at how things come together.

In her sculpture work, she dips fabric in plaster and hangs them.

"It makes big, drapey, sheet-like things, then I can turn it or cut it or do what ever with it," she says. She likes dipping the plaster more than the final product, she says.

Fisk says she sometimes thinks about leaving Jackson and going back to Louisiana or to somewhere new, but something always keeps her here.

"Whenever I get frustrated with Jackson or want to leave, I think 'but there's all these great people. I can't leave that,'" Fisk says.