The first hint that Karis Zavala would become an artist surfaced when she was 18 months old in a “Mommy and Me” class with her mother.
Among a group of toddlers, Karis drew perfectly symmetrical happy faces which were noticed by nearly all of the adults in the class, except for Karis’ mother, Susan Zavala.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” she recalled.
Now 8 years old, Karis’ painting of three large sunflowers recently landed among the top 10 winning pieces out of thousands of entries submitted by children throughout the country and Canada in a contest run by Celebrating Art, a website that promotes the artistic talents of children.
For a family with no artists in it, Karis’ talent has taken everyone by surprise, and there is another reason for their awe.
Two weeks before her 2nd birthday, she was being held in her mother’s arms outside a storefront when an elderly driver who meant to hit her car’s brakes pressed the gas pedal instead, crashing into Karis and her family and severely injuring all of them.