Amanolah Tarighi was a highly acclaimed artist in Iran around the mid-20th century, having photography and painting as his specialties. His never-ending work and contributions to the arts in Iran persevered through the Revolution of 1979 and still show the strong culture of Iran to its people today.

Following her grandfather’s footsteps, junior Bahar Tarighi spends a majority of her free time doing paintings and sketches of the world around her.

“I never really met him,” Bahar said. “but I grew up looking at his art and connected with him.”

Tarighi mainly does portraits and large landscapes, with some having a modern twist to them, such as a block of words over a realistic painting. She has participated in many art shows, like the Deerfield Music & Arts Festival, and and has received multiple commissions allowing her to share her talents with her community.

Tarighi is more reserved when it comes to her art, but likes to show her work to her close friends. One of which is junior Brian Jafari, who has known Bahar since middle school and reminisced on his first encounter with her.

“She used to come out of the art room with really extravagant paintings, so one day I asked her about it,” Jafari said. “She doesn’t really talk too much about her art, but I know she takes it really seriously and works hard at it.”

Another one of Bahar’s close friends, junior Eric Chen, shared his thoughts on her work.

“Going to her house is always really cool because she has her pieces everywhere,” Chen said. “I don’t know too much about her art since she’s pretty private about it, but I think her work speaks for itself.”

Unlike most artists who use art to unwind, Bahar finds painting to be quite a demanding process as she tries to achieve the best result.

“Drawing relieves my stress, but not painting,” Bahar said. “Painting is stressful. I have a sketchbook that relieves stress. I draw pictures based off of songs that I’m listening to, which is cool because I love music.”

Living in a world where the humanities may not be as valued as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, Bahar knows it is hard to prosper as an artist.

“Later on in the year I plan on having a full-on show with all of my works,” Bahar said. “I plan on opening a website sometime soon to sell my art and gain more commissions. But it is important to know that art isn’t supposed to be about getting a steady salary or guaranteeing health insurance or whatever. It’s about human expression, and if you’re happy doing that then no one should try and stop you.”