Student Spotlight: Lily X. Haselton

by Skye Kuppig, staff reporter

Sturgis East Junior Lily X. Haselton has distinguished herself at Sturgis for her talent in face and body painting.

Somehow between her homework, art club, her job at Stop and Shop, and Chinese lessons, she finds time to design, draw, and paint.

“I try to plan my artwork on days with minimal homework,” she said.

Lily started her own business, Facepainting by Lily, over the summer and has traveled to birthday parties and events all over the Cape to face paint. She is also working under a magician by the name of Marcus, whose son just graduated from Sturgis. She knows him as a family friend because he had also adopted a daughter from China.

Lily’s interest in art began when she was very young, as she explained. Her mother is an artist, and used to own a scrimshaw gallery, and so that she was always surrounded by art and creativity. Her face painting career began at age eleven, when her gymnastics coach noticed Lily’s interest in art and decided to bring her along to some of her face painting gigs. She took a liking to face painting, and has been working to develop her skill in it ever since.
Like almost all artists, Lily draws inspiration from the world and culture around her. She’s especially inspired by pop culture, saying, “ I think it’s interesting to take a costume from a movie and transform it into body art.” 
Lily also draws inspiration from other artists. Being on the Cape and access to the great art galleries (for example, the Norman Rockwell exhibit in Sandwich) has been an advantage to her.

“I look at other people’s art and apply their style to my own,” she explains.

However, Lily’s greatest inspiration may come from Sturgis itself. “I’m inspired by the people at Sturgis, because I’ve made a name for myself and the feedback they give me inspires me to do more,” she said. She says that taking IB art at Sturgis has helped her grow as an artist and has helped her to organize her ideas as well.

Lily is already planning for her artistic future. Art school is an attractive option, and she’s especially interested in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Recently, she had an interview with Heritage House and Gardens Museum in Sandwich for an eight week art internship. After high school, her plan is to grow her small face painting business. Someday, Lily dreams of working for big productions like movies and Broadway shows.