Peterborough Artist Averie Wilkins Follows In Her Dad Jason Wilkins Footsteps With Her First Sale

Averie Wilkins, 16, is celebrating selling her first piece of art, following in her dad Jason Wilkins footsteps and pursuing a career as an artist.

Averie with a piece she did for her brother.

Averie says she has been drawing since she was young, and has memories of drawing beside her dad when she was four.

Now at 16, she draws inspiration from anime and other shows she likes. She practices different mediums like water colours, gouache, and pen and also enjoys drawing digital pieces on her dads iPad.

Jason, Averie’s dad, is a professional illustrator, live event artist, muralist and workshop instructor located in Peterborough.

Etsy is an e-commerce site usually tailored to handmade products like art, jewelry and crafts.

Averie set up her online shop a few months ago and until recently had been yet to make a sale. Until someone named David purchased a piece on March 6.

“It was really a relief. I thought no one was going to buy anything especially since I had been waiting for months,” she said. “But I got a notification on my phone and it was from Etsy. I read it and someone had purchased an item at my shop. Just a really happy and uplifting moment for me.”

Jason says he’s proud to see his daughter succeeding as an artist already at such a young age.

“I’ve always expressed to all of my kids that as long as they’re happy with what they do for a living, then I’m happy. Whatever that might be. You have to love what you do,” he said. “But it is really cool to see Averie as passionate about art as I was at her age. She’s got talent but I’ve told her that’s only half the battle - patience and work.”

While as a dad, seeing his daughter do what she loves is encouraging, as an artist seeing another artist succeed is a different level of admiration.

“I’m so proud of her for putting herself out there. It’s not an easy thing to do,” he said. “I remember George Elliott coming to speak in my high school art class. He said ‘You’re not a career artist until you sell your first piece.’ It just validates all your efforts and really makes you feel like you’re doing what you were meant to do.”

Averie says while seeing her Dad succeed as an artist has influenced her decision to pursue art, his technique is not something they share.

“He has really proven that you can be very successful and support yourself through doing something you love,” she said. “However I definitely don’t think he has had much influence on my technique, since our styles are both different. I think it’s because we are both from different times. If anything my oldest brother Sam had a big impact because he’s the one who got me into anime.”

Averie’s art can be viewed on her Instagram and purchased on her Etsy shop.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.