//PICTURED ABOVE: The painting above was created by senior Meghna Jain. She has always enjoyed art, focusing mostly on acrylics. she is currently accepting commissions.

With the holiday season upon us, many people are frantically searching for the perfect gift to give friends and family, crowding malls and department stores to accomplish this goal. However, with the immense talent of the students and faculty at Hockaday, one does not have to look any further than 11600 Welch Road.

Here are three of The Fourcast’s favorites.

Sydney Geist

Junior Sydney Geist sold her first craft, a stuffed sock decorated as a snowman, to junior Angie Walsh five years ago when she was in sixth grade. Since then, her crafting business has only grown.

Now, Geist primarily sells wire and bead chokers and keychains with hand painted beads and suede cords. Her main customers are friends from Hockaday and beyond who see her wearing her products and ask “Where did you get that?” Geist sells her products because she finds the business very enjoyable and profitable. Crafting, to her, is relaxing and a fun way to express herself.

“I thought [the chokers and keychains] were

fun to make, and why not make the extra money?” Geist said.

The talented crafter also has plans for future expansion. Geist currently owns an Etsy shop, DTX Beadery, that she plans to set up with her products soon. For now, if anyone wants to buy one of her products, they have to contact her directly.

“I’m really excited about [the future],” Geist said. “I’m really hoping to get everything up and running soon and can’t wait to see the results.”

Meghna Jain

Senior Meghna Jain takes a different approach to her business than Geist by focusing on creating acrylic paintings. She sells mostly small pieces to people to put in their rooms, typically of places they have traveled or lived. However, she once sold a large abstract painting to go by the staircase of a friend’s home.

She began her business after a friend of Jain’s older sister saw one of the paintings that she had received as a gift. The friend proceeded to become her first customer and sparked Jain’s business.

“After I made [the paintings], I kind of just had a lot of fun doing it,” Jain said.

On her art Instagram, @mjs.art.adventures, Jain announced that she would begin taking commissions and asked for people to direct message her if they were interested in purchasing. Her business has only taken off from there.

Before Jain created her Instagram page one year ago, people were not as familiar with her paintings. However, now her work has gained lots of popularity in the Hockaday community and beyond. Since she does not play any sports, her commissions and art pieces on display have added to Jain’s extracurricular adventures.

“It’s another thing that people just didn’t know about me,” Jain said.

Kevin Brady

Upper School Ceramics teacher Kevin Brady has a longstanding tradition of selling art at Hockaday. For 24 years, Brady has held an annual holiday event at school, where almost 100 percent of the proceeds benefit the North Texas Food Bank, specifically the Empty Bowls Luncheon. Empty Bowls is an international project where artists bring bowls of their making to the event and serve a meal to collect donations to help fight hunger in their communities.

“It helps [the North Texas Food Bank] and helps raise awareness about hunger in Dallas,” Brady said.

Brady also sells his work throughout Dallas and the country. He has friends in Arizona and Colorado that have sold ceramics and photos for him before. While he has sold his work in galleries and museum shops, Brady has not worked with one for a couple of years and would rather make and sell his art on his terms.

“When they start asking 50 percent commission, or they want you to make a certain thing or price a certain way because that’s what sells, I kind of go ‘Eh, that’s boring,’” Brady said.

Story by Kate Woodhouse, News Editor

Photo by Meghna Jain