Tenth Grade Putnam Student Stuns Internet With Amazing Nail Designs
Springfield, MA — Artists can use many different types of canvases for their work: paper, linen, wood, concrete. It was X.Michelle Rivera’s surprising use of her mother’s fingernails for her latest work of art that has generated a lot of interest on social media. What’s even more surprising is the fact that X.Michelle is a high school sophomore.
X.Michelle recreated a signature scene from The Little Mermaid, with Ariel and Prince Eric in a boat, inspired by her mother’s love for the film and their shared passion for art. The image has generated interest on social media for its detailed depiction and intricate work.
“She thought I was just going to paint Ariel and Eric together on the boat, but I decided to take it to a new level and do the whole entire scene,” X.Michelle said.
The process took an estimated 12 hours and was completed over many sessions.
This isn’t X.Michelle’s first foray into complicated nail projects. For Halloween, a client requested a Jigsaw-inspired theme – based on the horror movie character – which required eight hours of work.
She first became interested in nail design after accompanying her mother, Xairachely Rivera, to nail salons. X.Michelle would get frustrated when she would see sloppy or imperfect work. At that point Xairachely offered to buy the necessary tools if she thought she could do better. They purchased inexpensive products at first, then when X.Michelle took it seriously invested in quality tools.
Supporting passions in her children and encouraging them to stick with their interests even when it’s challenging is important to Xairachely.
“Once she gives up the first time, she will forever give up,” she said. “We show them that giving up is never an option.”
“I push dreams that they want to achieve,” Xairachely said.
All in the Family
Xairachely was amazed by her daughter’s work on her fingernails, but said she saw the potential for her talent.
Nails decorated for Halloween
Xairachely said that artistic talent runs in the family, with a long history of success in arts from music to painting. The passion for art was instilled in X.Michelle as a young child, and both of her parents work as tattoo artists and other creative art projects.
Even as young as three-years-old, X.Michelle was interested in her father’s tattoo designs. “She liked to see her father work, she wanted to know what he was doing and how he was doing it,” Xariachely said.
X.Michelle aspires to follow in her parents’ footsteps and become a tattoo artist in addition to sharing her art in other ways.
“I want to continue their legacy,” she said.
For now, she appreciates working on nails and the experience it gives her to improve her skills.
“[In tattooing], people request pretty difficult things,” X.Michelle noted. “Me doing this will help me be more precise with small details and the small little things on skin that are permanent. This will be an advantage for me for the future.”
It’s a direction that her mother loves. “She already has a plan, so I don’t worry for her,” Xairachely said, “whether it’s nail painting, or canvas painting or tattooing.”
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