By Greg Collins, senior

People have heard about Final Fridays at least once while living in Wichita. On the last Friday of each month, art galleries, restaurants and museums open their venues to the public. This free event contains various pieces of art ranging from paintings to sculptures.

Friends University participated in January’s Final Friday. The special guest, Tara Hufford-Walker, displayed 60 of her paintings at the Riney Fine Arts Center.

Hufford-Walker’s water color paintings left one’s eye with an image full of beautiful colors that flowed so evenly, it was as if you were looking at an actual photograph at first glance.

My eyes grew wide as I stood in awe in the center of the exhibit. As I looked at each painting from afar, my mind wasn’t clear. Every piece of art had been perfected.

All paintings had such great detail that my eyes couldn’t stay on one spot. It was as if each part of the painting had a significant story to tell, and the more I looked at them, I was astonished as to how a person could re-create a picture in a painting.

Getting the chance to speak one-on-one with Hufford-Walker left me in shock. It took her seven years to complete all 60 paintings, and 12 of them were done in a year. For many people, just one painting with the detail she provided would take a lifetime to accomplish.

Hufford-Walker enjoys bright colors that express emotion. She believes that composition comes first; the meaning of why it was done follows after.

Her paintings deliver subliminal messages within the art that are easy to pick up on, such as believing in inner-beauty or that life is what you make of it.

All paintings were beyond amazing and attracted every person who walked through the doors of Riney Fine Arts Center.