FOX5NY: Painting Prodigy

Reprinted from FOX5NY

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) – At just 14, Autumn de Forest is a painter with an impressive portfolio. She started painting at 5, began showing her works at art fairs at age 6, and these days her pieces sell at auction for upwards of $25,000 dollars.

“I love being able to one day do a painting inspired by Picasso and the next day do one inspired by Andy Warhol,” said de Forest, who lives in Las Vegas.

Her works are colorful and varied, and have caught the eyes of collectors around the world.

“To have people want my paitings in their homes and being able to come home from a hard day and look at it and just smile, I’m happy,” she said.

One of her paintings has an especially signifigant home: the Vatican.
This past November she won the International Vatican Award in Paiting and Art and got to meet none other than Pope Francis himself.

“Being able to meet with him and give him the painting was such an incredible opportunity, and just talk to him and learn more about his wisdom,” de Forest said.

When she’s not traveling the world showing her art…de Forest give away pieces to raise money for charities and works hard to make a difference.

We caught up with her at PS 165 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where she was giving students her own age an art lesson as part of the Turnaround Arts project, a program of the Presiden’t Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Eighth graders there say she left a strong impression.

“It was exciting and the fun thing about it is she’s around our age, so I thought it was really amazing,” said student Chrishauna Harper.

“When I saw all she did with just being a little girl, I got inspired and I tried myself,” said eighth grader Juancarlos Dorrejo.

De Forest has been called a child prodigy, but there’s no doubt her talent will go well beyond her childhood years.