GRAPEVINE, Texas – For nearly 15 years, Cherokee Nation citizen Anita Mitchell has been creating art after her grandfather and fellow Cherokee artist Ron Mitchell started teaching her at 3-years-old.

“My grandfather taught me in the art style he was proficient in, so black and white inking. It wasn’t until middle school, when I was 11, that I transitioned into digital art,” the 17-year-old Mitchell said. “I tend to try to express a more youthful interpretation of a lot of things. So very graphic, lot of colors, a lot of kind of topics that are relevant to today. So, it’s combining both traditional Cherokee stories with like modern interpretations of it.”

Her love for creating took off and she has competed in art shows nearly every year since 2015. During this time, Mitchell has explored various art mediums with digital being at the forefront, but now she is getting into the world of acrylic painting.

“That’s something I’ve just recently started doing is using acrylic paint,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed it, so I’m going to start kind of moving towards that a little bit.”

Her work in the new medium is already being recognized at art shows.

Her latest wins were at the 2024 Southeastern Art Show and Market and the 19th annual Cherokee Art Market where she placed “Best of Show” in the Youth category at both shows for her acrylic painting “The Journey Home.”

Mitchell said the painting depicts the story of the Cherokee’s journey of following the turtle to the homeland and is her favorite piece yet.

“I guess it was just like a really big compliment to how far I’ve come. From going from black and white to digital to a full color piece done with acrylic painting,” she said. “That was so, I don’t know if awesome is the right word, but awesome is the word I’m going to use.”

While art acts as an outlet, Mitchell also uses art to relax from school. She also sees it as a way to learn more about her Cherokee culture.

“Whenever I have an idea for an art piece, or I want to get an idea for an art piece, I’ll go online and I’ll look up history or stories,” she said. “It’s a way for me to learn because I’m not in Oklahoma, so I can’t really go to (Cherokee cultural) classes that easily. This is just a way for me to really connect with the culture.”

As for being a young artist, Mitchell said it’s important to get younger audiences interested in Cherokee culture and art.

“I think just as a society we’re still progressing, and we have to have Native American art progress with how art is moving and how society is moving to get more younger audiences interested in the culture and in the art form,” she said.

Mitchell’s art can be found on her Facebook page or on Instagram @aanitam_art.