Student Owned Small Business to Check Out

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Stuck at home during the pandemic, students had lots of time on their hands to bury themselves in social media, stalk celebrities’ accounts and scroll on TikTok all day long. Freshman Kangana Modi took advantage of this extra time and created her own small business on Instagram. On her account, @art4u_km, Modi sells her paintings and sketches to donate to St. Jude’s and A Road For Cure (Photo/Kayra Dayi). 

Freshman Kangana Modi first got involved with St. Jude because of an old friend who had cancer. Through her, she connected with the hospital personally. 

Modi spends around 30 to 40 hours on each of her artworks. “The time spent varies on the difficulty,” she said. “Paintings that involve skin tones are the most difficult ones.” For example, a painting she painted of her baby cousin took her half a year to finish. Modi determines the prices of her art based on the time and effort she puts into them.

What she decides to paint for the day depends on her mood. “If I am in the mood to paint something simple, I’ll go with nature,” she said; “however, if I want to do something different and new, I’ll include difficult elements such as people.” 

Before starting her paintings and sketches, Modi often likes to go online and look at photos for inspiration. Sometimes, an image of the picture she wants to paint pops into her head, and she follows that without any reference. 

Modi’s top three artworks so far are “Lord of Ganesha,” “Cousin Arya,” and “Pluto the Pug”. She explained that “Lord of Ganesha” is in her top three. “It was my first painting working with skin tones and creating something that was symbolic to me and my Hindu religion. She chose “Cousin Arya” as her next one simply because of the joy she experienced as she painted someone from her family she values so much. Lastly, she picked “Pluto the Pug” as her final favorite. “It introduced me to a new medium and surprised me in many ways since I did not know that working with colored pencils would make it easier to add details,” she said. “It also increased my skill level since I couldn’t erase any marks because I was using non erasable colored pencils that left a noticeable gray mark if I tried to erase it.” 

Lord of Ganesha 

Cousin Arya

Pluto the Pug 

Out of the paintings Kangana Modi has sold on her Instagram account so far, her painting, “Underwater Dessert,” will always be her favorite. “I painted “Underwater Dessert” because I wanted to challenge myself and try to paint something difficult,” she said. She is proud of all the paintings and sketches she has done and sold so far, as she puts a tremendous amount of effort and passion into them (Photos/Kangana Modi).

Kayra is a rising junior who is passionate about art and journalism. She loves expressing herself and the issues she cares about through her writing and artworks. She holds officer positions in Newspaper, Quill&Scroll, and the National Art Honor Society. When not studying, Kayra loves to read nonfiction books, hangout with her friends, cook healthy meals, listen to music while creating art, and spend time with her cat and family. She is looking forward to her junior year as she prepares for AP Art and new articles to write.