Art comes in all forms, be it music, paintings, hair, or even food. One girl at Pines Charter High School (PPCHS), Sophomore Pembroke Lillian Fornicola, expresses her artistry in a unique way: designing nails for people.
Fornicola was around ten or 11 years old when she began to show her talent. It all started when she discovered press-on nails which inspired her interest in making people’s hands even prettier.
“I started off doing press ons because I wanted acrylics,” Fornicola recalls. “My mom said no to that, and me being stubborn, I learned how to do them myself which eventually led into a business.”
Talent doesn’t spawn out of the blue, it is built through practice, motivation, and passion. Fornicola fell in love with designing nails, which inspired her to get better by watching nail art videos, buying useful and advanced supplies, and by watching tutorials on the subject over the years.
Looking at the work she does, it would seem as if her nail work was that of a professional. Fornicola mainly does “Gel-X nails,” a type of polish intended for painting intricate designs. Her favorite design she’s made was done with this gel, which consists of an array of warm and cool colors and a scaly and sparkly look.
Fornicola does long to short nails, simple to complex patterns, minimalistic to maximalist styles, and even smooth or rough designs that sometimes include 3D shapes. Fornicola favors one specific design that she’s done on herself. It includes 3D gel-art, depicting fruit and bugs, with lemons, cherries, blueberries, ladybugs, and ants all drawn on.
Finishing a nail project gives Fornicola a sense of joy that she can only describe as “ethereal.” She loves making fun designs, testing her limits, and envisioning the creative aspect of it all. She enjoys seeing how far she can go with certain designs, and then doing it all over again.
According to Fornicola, it isn’t all about the nails though, it is about the experience. Providing someone with happiness, relief, and satisfaction is the best feeling to receive as a nail artist.
“I love the feeling that I give to other people when they get their nails done. When a girl gets her nails done, her mood is automatically boosted. It makes me happy knowing that I can make other people happy.”
Fornicola happily customizes anybody’s nails. Family members, people from school, and strangers who just want to feel pretty. Her customers usually consist of her friends around her age, especially other sophomores from PPCHS.
Although Fornicola is talented in her field and shares a passion for it, she isn’t going to make it her whole life in the future.
“In the future, I want to go to college for business and I want to open up my own beauty salon,” she remarks.
Fornicola may not want to base her future around nail design, but she still plans on incorporating aspects of the passion into her life in the future.
As time progresses, it is obvious that Fornicola will continue this journey of love and passion for doing nails. Her creativity and talent will only grow so much more until then.
