Sunday, June 14, 2009

Oklahoma teen with Asperger's finds his passion with spray paint art

From KXII-TV in Sherman, Texas. The picture is one of Trevor's paintings from his Web site.

HEALDTON, Okla. – Trevor Aycox hasn’t even started high school yet, but still the young artist is turning heads locally and has earned scholarship money to attend an international art camp. But Trevor is not your average 13-year-old, nor is his favorite type of art your normal paint and canvas combination.

Trevor has been accepted into the prestigious “Interlochen Center for Arts” Camp in Michigan this summer. The young artist’s specialty is spray paint art. With just a couple spray paint cans, a stencil, and some old magazine pages, the 13-year-old can create amazing art.

"It's got a lot of detail,” Trevor explained. “It's really easy, it's really quick, and it's really cool. I just really like it."

The young artist sees the world differently, but inside his art studio, every thing is picture perfect.

"When I finish a really nice piece of art, I just kind of look at it and stand back and think – ‘Wow I really did that.’ Trevor told First News. It's pretty cool, to think I'm one in a million."

Trevor truly is one of a kind. The teen has Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of functioning autism. The disorder sometimes makes normal social settings difficult or communication hard, but inside Trevor art room he's a master in his own right.

"He really has a talent that’s unusual and exceptional,” Kristi Aycox, Trevor’s mother said. “So we facilitate that, to let him do something that he’s proud of."

Aycox said she's proud of her son, and is excited he's been accepted and awarded a scholarship to attend the Interlochen Art Center camp.

Now the teen is using his passion for spray paint art to pay for the rest of the camp.

"He really wants to do this one his own and I want him to have to work for it and he wants to work for it,” Aycox said. “He's proud to be able to accomplish that.”

Through picture sales and paint-a-thons, Trevor has already raised about $2,000. He needs to raise about $2,000 more. But the young artist said he's not stop with just camp this summer.

"I've always wanted to go to New York and spray paint in Central Park."

Trevor leaves for Interlochen in July. But the young artist already has some fundraisers in the works before then.