BATAVIA – Batavia High School senior Shelby Anderson sees the world through an artist's eye.

"I use art as a way to turn my feelings into words," said Anderson, 18, who will graduate from Batavia High School. "My art is an extension of myself and everything I do or feel."

Anderson's talents garnered a creative honors scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago this fall. Based on the strength of her portfolio, Anderson ranks in the top 10 percent of the incoming freshman class.

That's not surprising to Batavia High School art teacher Dawn Zalkus.

"She has an innate urge to create," Zalkus said. "She is perpetually looking for new ways to push herself forward. She kind of pushes beyond what is expected."

Zalkus said she believes Anderson will continue to be successful.

"I think she will be a very talented artist as long as she keeps pushing forward," Zalkus said.

Anderson's life is coming full circle as she heads to the School of the Art Institute at the end of August.

"I got my first sketchbook there," Anderson said. "When I was 7 or 8, I sketched a painting of a mother and daughter."

Another of her early works also gave Anderson an inkling that she would become an artist one day.

"I did a painting of a clown and a teddy bear," Anderson recollected. "I used many different colors."

Much of Anderson's work is surrealistic or abstract.

"I'm really inspired by Salvador Dali," she said. "I call myself the mustache woman."

That includes putting a mustache on herself in a self-portrait. Anderson also is not afraid of using herself as a canvas, as she once painted her face in bright colors and took a photo of it.

She doesn't always think art has to be explained. And she is open to other people's interpretations of her work.

"People should be able to express themselves without being judged," Anderson said. "I want to be able to be myself without any boundaries."

She uses everyday objects – like oranges – in her artwork.

"When I see an orange, I see a brain," Anderson said. "It has a lot of human characteristics."

She dabbles in many artistic mediums, including photography.

"I try to challenge myself," Anderson said. "I like art being an adventure. When I am creating a piece, I am consumed by it. If I am not feeling it, I can't create it."

Anderson is getting her artwork out in the community. Her work was displayed at Water Street Studios, and last year, she painted a fiberglass bulldog for Bulldogs Unleashed, a fundraiser benefiting the Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence, the Batavia Parks Foundation and the Batavia Public Library Foundation.

In painting the bulldog, Anderson incorporated a Beatles theme, which led Music Matters School of Music in Batavia to purchase it.

"I thought it would be a good fit for the school," said Jeff Matter, director of Music Matters. "She is a very talented young artist. I liked that she used sheet music for the legs. I just thought it was really creative what she did with it."

Anderson said she enjoyed being part of the fundraiser.

"I'm glad it went to a great cause," she said.

Anderson hopes her artwork also will help inspire other artists.

"I want others to express themselves as freely as I do," Anderson said.