Alina Eydel: : Artist

_____At an age where most girls are fawning over Nick Garter and Justin Timberlake, 11-year-old Alina Eydel doesn't have time for boy band pop idols. Her dream guy?
_____Fernando Botero.
_____If the Florence-schooled, Renaissance-influenced Botero seems like an unlikely hero for an 11-year-old girl, he is. But how many 11-year-olds do you know who have been professionals for onethird of their lives?
_____Alina, daughter of two designers, Lana and Igor Eydel, has been painting since the age of 7. She started doodling when she was 2, and her work has progressed to the point where she's one of the featured artists at the La Quinta Arts Festival, running through Sunday at Frances Hack Park in La Quinta.
_____Alina embodies the spirit of the sponsoring La Quinta Arts Foundation, which has long been committed to providing scholarships to individuals pursuing higher education in the arts. Festival proceeds also enable the foundation to provide quality visual arts programming to local students and to fulfill their mission of promoting and cultivating the arts through education. Alina is a fine example of a student benefiting from the arts.
_____She graduated from the world of crayons and colored pencils when her mother bought her a set of acrylic paints at 7. "She saw my drawings, and she told me that it would be great idea to paint them," says Alina. Explaining her carefree approach to her craft, she says, "I just imagined things and put them on paper."
_____At first, Alina says, she and her mother were painting together, but then she "kinda got the hang of it," she says. Now this grizzled veteran is ready to take on the world. As long as she can bring her cat, Shura, with her.
_____Alina has done more than 100 paintings and many involve cats, like her most recent series, "Catopia."
_____"It's a cat country where cats have the same personalities and abilities that people do and they can do anything they want," says Alina, who's cat, Shura, is the inspiration for much of her work.
_____Her other inspirations come from her parents, who have always nurtured her creativity.
_____"We're very excited and very very proud of our daughter," says Alina's mother, Lana. "My husband (and I) are both de–signers, so she's surrounded by creativity. We're all team players, we're all one big team," she says.
_____Lana says that while she never saw anything particularly special about her art in the beginning, she's starting to now as others constantly show appreciation for her work.
_____That includes Josef Woodard of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote that Alina's work is "whimsical and lighthearted, exerting a charm we might be tempted to relate to beloved Russian Marc Chagall."
"She's just a natural," says Lana.
_____But she's still just an 11-year-old. An average 11 -year-old, as she'll be the first to tell you. Alina's daily routine revolves around getting up and going to school, coming home and painting for two to three hours, and somehow finding time for homework.
_____She enjoys watching "Friends" and "Gilligan's Island" reruns on Nick at Nite. She likes ABBA and Madonna. She contends, "I have an average life just like everyone else."
_____Well, maybe not everyone else. Does everyone else have a framed letter from J.K. Rawling? You bet your Dumbledore not!
_____"It's very honorable," says Alina, who wrote to the Harry Potter author after reading the first book in the series and urged her to write more. "Two years later, she wrote back!" exclaims Alina. "I'm just one of the million people that write to her, and probably one of the thousand people who got something back" Alina enjoys school, even though she frequently misses classes due to work engagements.
_____But school is understanding about her absences, right? "Well, maybe not understanding, but they're cooperating," says Lana.
_____Still, Lana says she's considering alternatives to the daily grind of public schooling. Alina's peak creative hours are in the morning, Lana says, and she's not able to capitalize on them while at school. "At school, they're very nice people," says Lana. "They try and help her grow as an artist as well. But still, I'm kind of considering home schooling - I don't know if we're going to do it, but we are considering it. It's just an idea so far. For me, her creativity is the most exciting thing, but of course, the education is important too." While participating in shows, selling her works is not always the top priority; Alina likes to make friends. She says that during art fairs such as the La Quinta Arts Festival, she's able to mingle with and make friends with her fellow artists.
____"I make friends with the other artists very easily, and hopefully I'll make more friends at La Quinta. Hopefully I'll see my already-artist friends there - too," she says.
_____Alina wouldn't mind making friends with a few of her collectors, either. She says that her artwork generally makes them happy, and she's excited to be able to share that with them.
_____"My artwork is very joyful and uplifting," she says. "People who buy my pieces are usually very uplifted by them." Alina's peers are uplifted by her works as well. Her peers in the children-world, that is.
_____"She's participated at shows before and there's a lot of kids coming up to her and saying, "I also draw, I also paint,"- says Lana. "And Alina is inspiring for them. I see the other kids" eyes, and there's a hope in them. I believe that it's not just my daughter who is very creative and talented. There's a lot of talented kids, but they're not given the chance like Alina was.
_____"I think that kids are usually underestimated," says Lana. "They actually have more energy than we think about them, it just needs to be guided in the right direction."
_____For Alina, the right direction is going to continue to be her artwork. It's available on her Web site, www.AlinaFlneArt.com, as well as at the La Quinta Arts Festival all weekend. And don't be surprised if you see her for years to come.
_____"I love drawing," says Alina. "I love to express myself, and I love painting. So I think I'm going to keep this for a long time."

Adam Graham is a features reporter for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at 778-4645 at adam.graham@thedesertsun.com

Arts festival paints brighter future BY ADAM GRAHAM THE DESERT SUN (la Quinta, CA) 25-03-2001 _____At an age where most girls are fawning over Nick Garter and Justin Timberlake, 11-year-old Alina Eydel doesn't have time for boy band pop idols. Her dream guy? _____Fernando Botero. _____If the Florence-schooled, Renaissance-influenced Botero seems like an unlikely hero for an 11-year-old girl, he is. But how many 11-year-olds do you know who have been professionals for onethird of their lives? _____Alina, daughter of two designers, Lana and Igor Eydel, has been painting since the age of 7. She started doodling when she was 2, and her work has progressed to the point where she's one of the featured artists at the La Quinta Arts Festival, running through Sunday at Frances Hack Park in La Quinta. _____Alina embodies the spirit of the sponsoring La Quinta Arts Foundation, which has long been committed to providing scholarships to individuals pursuing higher education in the arts. Festival proceeds also enable the foundation to provide quality visual arts programming to local students and to fulfill their mission of promoting and cultivating the arts through education. Alina is a fine example of a student benefiting from the arts. _____She graduated from the world of crayons and colored pencils when her mother bought her a set of acrylic paints at 7. "She saw my drawings, and she told me that it would be great idea to paint them," says Alina. Explaining her carefree approach to her craft, she says, "I just imagined things and put them on paper." _____At first, Alina says, she and her mother were painting together, but then she "kinda got the hang of it," she says. Now this grizzled veteran is ready to take on the world. As long as she can bring her cat, Shura, with her. _____Alina has done more than 100 paintings and many involve cats, like her most recent series, "Catopia." _____"It's a cat country where cats have the same personalities and abilities that people do and they can do anything they want," says Alina, who's cat, Shura, is the inspiration for much of her work. _____Her other inspirations come from her parents, who have always nurtured her creativity. _____"We're very excited and very very proud of our daughter," says Alina's mother, Lana. "My husband (and I) are both de–signers, so she's surrounded by creativity. We're all team players, we're all one big team," she says. _____Lana says that while she never saw anything particularly special about her art in the beginning, she's starting to now as others constantly show appreciation for her work. _____That includes Josef Woodard of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote that Alina's work is "whimsical and lighthearted, exerting a charm we might be tempted to relate to beloved Russian Marc Chagall." "She's just a natural," says Lana. _____But she's still just an 11-year-old. An average 11 -year-old, as she'll be the first to tell you. Alina's daily routine revolves around getting up and going to school, coming home and painting for two to three hours, and somehow finding time for homework. _____She enjoys watching "Friends" and "Gilligan's Island" reruns on Nick at Nite. She likes ABBA and Madonna. She contends, "I have an average life just like everyone else." _____Well, maybe not everyone else. Does everyone else have a framed letter from J.K. Rawling? You bet your Dumbledore not! _____"It's very honorable," says Alina, who wrote to the Harry Potter author after reading the first book in the series and urged her to write more. "Two years later, she wrote back!" exclaims Alina. "I'm just one of the million people that write to her, and probably one of the thousand people who got something back" Alina enjoys school, even though she frequently misses classes due to work engagements. _____But school is understanding about her absences, right? "Well, maybe not understanding, but they're cooperating," says Lana. _____Still, Lana says she's considering alternatives to the daily grind of public schooling. Alina's peak creative hours are in the morning, Lana says, and she's not able to capitalize on them while at school. "At school, they're very nice people," says Lana. "They try and help her grow as an artist as well. But still, I'm kind of considering home schooling - I don't know if we're going to do it, but we are considering it. It's just an idea so far. For me, her creativity is the most exciting thing, but of course, the education is important too." While participating in shows, selling her works is not always the top priority; Alina likes to make friends. She says that during art fairs such as the La Quinta Arts Festival, she's able to mingle with and make friends with her fellow artists. ____"I make friends with the other artists very easily, and hopefully I'll make more friends at La Quinta. Hopefully I'll see my already-artist friends there - too," she says. _____Alina wouldn't mind making friends with a few of her collectors, either. She says that her artwork generally makes them happy, and she's excited to be able to share that with them. _____"My artwork is very joyful and uplifting," she says. "People who buy my pieces are usually very uplifted by them." Alina's peers are uplifted by her works as well. Her peers in the children-world, that is. _____"She's participated at shows before and there's a lot of kids coming up to her and saying, "I also draw, I also paint,"- says Lana. "And Alina is inspiring for them. I see the other kids" eyes, and there's a hope in them. I believe that it's not just my daughter who is very creative and talented. There's a lot of talented kids, but they're not given the chance like Alina was. _____"I think that kids are usually underestimated," says Lana. "They actually have more energy than we think about them, it just needs to be guided in the right direction." _____For Alina, the right direction is going to continue to be her artwork. It's available on her Web site, www.AlinaFlneArt.com, as well as at the La Quinta Arts Festival all weekend. And don't be surprised if you see her for years to come. _____"I love drawing," says Alina. "I love to express myself, and I love painting. So I think I'm going to keep this for a long time." Adam Graham is a features reporter for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at 778-4645 at adam.graham@thedesertsun.com



_ _