Before Vy Van was a finance and accounting major at the C. T. Bauer College of Business, she was capturing the beauty of the world around her with a brush and a canvas.
From pastel ocean landscapes to portraits of her beloved family members, Van paints as a form of self-expression and love, she said.
“When I paint, I feel most like myself,” she said. “I trust the colors, then the picture comes from my heart.”
Her passion for art started when she was a young girl in a small town in Vietnam. Although she didn’t have the finances or resources to build up her hobby at the time, she worked with what she had and continued to hone her craft.
When she first moved to the United States, she was very shy, she said. It was difficult moving to a new country and learning a new language, she added. Art was a vessel she used to connect with the culture of her environment and make new friends.
“It helped me get out of my comfort zone,” Van said.
Additionally, Van helped her family manage their business, which encouraged her in learning English and navigate the world with more confidence. By watching her mother manage the finances of their business, Van said that she learned at an early age that nearly everything had a monetary value, even her art.
She started selling her art at schools, and the friends she made supported her by buying them. With the money she earned, she bought more colors and continued to improve her artistic abilities.
Her high school teachers encouraged her to submit her work in art competitions, and her mother drove her to every event. Invigorated by the support she received from her friends, family and loved ones, Van would go on to win said art competitions at her high school and the Houston Rodeo.
