ERIKA HUGHES
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When I was little I use to go to the Grateful Dead Concerts. There I was exposed to hippies. My mom was one. I was friends with Jerry Garcia and Bear, the drummer. My step-dad was friends with them also. The music made me feel really good.
When I was 3 my mom gave me my first harmonica. My grandfather, on my mom’s side, was a blues harmonica player. I took piano and violin lessons. Violin I didn’t stick with but I stuck with piano for 4 years. When I got into high school I took a drawing class. My teacher was Ms. Jordan from Nevada Union. She dressed like a gypsy and wore a lot of beads. My art stopped for a while, but when I would visit my grandparents I would do art because my grandpa was a painter. He would let me go in his studio and paint. We have a lot of artists in my family.
After high school I went to Sierra College in Rocklin, CA. At this time I was living on my own in an apartment. I made some bad choices with the men in my life. I got pregnant, went back to live with my mom and then made a choice to get married. We had a hard marriage. During this time I was told I couldn’t do anything, and I stayed with him anyhow for five and a half years because I was afraid to leave. This kept art out of my life. Art made me feel happy, but I had no way to express myself. During this time I was seeing a therapist. The therapist told me of a place where I could do art and be with wonderful people. Eventually I called the place she recommended on my own and that is how I found out about Neighborhood Center of the Arts, NCA.
I have been working as an artist at NCA for 11 years. As an artist I’ve explored oil pastels, weaving, making dolls, ceramics, woodworking and some mosaics. My art has improved and I am learning how to explore new things. My favorite is doing my oil pastels and ceramics and eventually I would like to get into NCA’s music class. My oil pastel work is popular because my work is selling like crazy. For the future I would like to have my own art studio where I can work on my oil pastels. I would also like to perform in front of a live audience playing my harmonica. That is what makes me who I am today.
