Congratulations to talented student, Shanai in Year 9 at Fairfield High School (FHS) for launching her brand new shop on Etsy selling birthday cards and fridge magnets.

FHS first showcased Shanai’s inspirational and creative digital illustrations last year; the BBC plus other media outlets were also hot on her trail, as impressed as we were by how much this young woman had achieved. Each of Shanai’s illustrations require hours and hours of dedication and precision as she creates an impressive 11 layers of graphics.

At the time Shanai explained:

“It was Carlos Valdez Cartoon Maker on You Tube which first inspired me to get into this kind of illustration. My technique is very different, however, and I’ve developed my own style using an app called Adobe Draw.

“I’m really loving what I’m doing and can spend hours and hours at a time, wondering sometimes where the weekend has gone to! At the moment this is a hobby which I hope will develop, and in the future I’d like to become an architect.”

Since then, Shanai has received the exciting news about an Enterprise Hero award from Bristol Young Heroes, in relation to her greeting cards. The ceremony was due to be held in May, so FHS look forward to sharing an update of this in coming months.

Sabrina, Shanai’s mother describes her thoughts on Shanai’s success:

“We are delighted to share details of Shanai’s new Etsy page! This has been such a fun quarantine project for her and she’s also been developing her skills by practicing painting with acrylics and oils which she’ll be including in her DofE project too.

“Shanai is also working on a second online shop selling a range of other products but that’s not quite ready as yet. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement for her venture.”

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ShansCreatives

Watch this space for ‘ShansCreatives’ (the company name that Shanai has derived using her initials) as there’s plenty more in the pipeline!

Well done from all at Team Fairfield.