Teen artist captures essence of Brighton's Mill Pond with new mural at downtown business
BRIGHTON — A Brighton High School sophomore with a natural gift for painting has created a mural of the Mill Pond for display at a downtown business.
Morgan Christopher, 15, created her 7 feet by 4 feet acrylic painting for Jackie's Custard Co. at 415 Mill Pond Lane. After being covered by a cloth for weeks, it was officially unveiled Thursday, April 25, at a grand opening celebration for the custard shop.
Earlier this year, shop owner Andrea Cartier and her partner, David Beattie, established Jackie's Custard Co. in the former Jack's Custard Co. Cartier said the shop's new name honors the memory her sister, Jackie Burke of Royal Oak, who loved ponds. Burke died of cancer in 2001 at age 39.
More: Jack's becomes Jackie's: New owner honors late sister in downtown Brighton
Christopher fell in love with painting as a hobby and taught herself by doing it. She enjoys painting when she's not in school, playing hockey with the Kensington Valley Ravens or running track.
"I became interested in art during the pandemic," she said.
She draws a lot of her inspiration from nature, and her family has a cottage on Lake Bernard in Quebec. Since 2020, Christopher has created paintings for an art show organized by Les Amis du Lac Bernard — The Friends of Lake Bernard — each summer.
To prepare for her mural at Jackie's, Christopher went down to the Mill Pond and took photographs to use for reference. She created the mural in an art space she set up in her family's basement.
"I started painting it over Christmas break," she said, adding it took her about 40 hours to create. "It's the biggest one I've done so far."
Although she's taken art classes at school, Christopher hasn't had a painting class. She's done pottery and metal arts. Despite being self-taught, painting comes naturally to Christopher.
"I don't even really pay attention when I paint. I zone out," she said.
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Family friend Jeff VonBuskirk, a professional artist and muralist, gave her some advice and helped her through the logistics of painting a mural and getting it hung, but he didn't help her with the painting itself.
"I think Morgan has a fabulous talent for art," VonBuskirk told The Daily at the unveiling. "Her natural ability is incredible. As far as I'm concerned, she's a generational artist. I would venture to say, out of four grade levels she might be a singular type of talent. Her ability to perceive things and translate it is amazing."
Christopher said she'll likely pursue a career outside of the art world but plans to continue making art as a serious hobby.
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Teen artist captures essence of Brighton's Mill Pond with new mural