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From a young age, my artistic journey began with a defining moment shared with my mother, coloring frogs in a coloring book. Disagreeing on the "correct" color sparked my passion, as my mother empowered me with the freedom to choose any hue. The second pivotal experience unfolded during a fourth-grade trip to The Baltimore Museum of Art, where a Van Gogh exhibit ignited an aesthetic awakening, shaping my artistic path for a lifetime.