Sophomore Olivia Lu sold one of her drawings titled “Shield Me” at Artful Living, an event hosted by non-profit organization Our Daily Bread in association with Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts. Artful Living was held on April 23 at the Stacy C. Wood Community Center in Fairfax.

“I was surprised, because I didn’t think that anyone would actually buy it,” Lu said.

In all, the event raised $45,000 from art purchases and auctions, including wine samples and vacation packages. The proceeds will go towards assisting individuals and families in becoming financially independent.

“Half of your sales go to [the organization],” Lu said. “They were helping struggling families to pay off their bills.”

“Shield Me” was an experimental piece Lu created over the summer. The subject is a young Muslim woman, who Lu drew with graphite and minimal colored pencils.

“I focused more on the eyes and the nose and the mouth, and I didn’t really shade the face, because I wanted to try something new,” Lu said.

The underlying theme for all of the artwork at Artful Living was “seeing the beauty within”. Lu’s artwork illustrates the theme in that the woman depicted resembles many Muslim women who are hesitant to openly display their culture as a result of the recent stigma surrounding their religion.

An excerpt from Lu’s artist’s statement says, “Her beauty and innocence…symbolizes the abundance of girls who have the ability to accomplish much in their life, but are discriminated for their background/religion. This artwork hopes to widen the perception of beauty to those beyond the set standards.”

Though “Shield Me” was the only artwork Lu displayed at Artful Living, her other pieces will be featured in various publications.

“I’m getting published in two other magazines, but it’s for another piece,” Lu said.