But, for 12-year-old Marley Pedersen it was when she knew her talent was something out of the ordinary. 

By grade 3, she was taking private art lessons. 

“I think it was about grade 5 that I started entering art competitions like the Campbell Town Show and Deloraine and Launceston,” she said. 

“In my first ever art show, which I think was Campbell Town Show, I got a high distinction.” 

However, in between starting private lessons and entering her first competition, Marley was diagnosed with brain cancer. 

“In grade 4, I was just nine years old, and was diagnosed with brain cancer at the back of my head,” she said.  

“I first started having symptoms like eating breakfast and then just start throwing it right back up.”

It was Marley’s eye doctor who told her something wasn’t right. 

“He asked us to get an MRI and they realised I did have cancer, so they had to drive me off to Hobart. I had surgery and they got it all out,” she said.

Marley started going back to school for half days, but she wasn’t out of the clear yet. 

“Then this fluid was making a bubble in the back of my head and we had to go and get another MRI,” she said.  

“I had to get a VP shunt in my head, and it’s still there now. I got one of those in to suck the liquid out of my head and down into my stomach where it’s meant to be.”

At the time, Marley didn’t think about how scary it all was. 

“I just didn’t want to have to have chemotherapy because I did not want to lose my hair,” she said. 

“Now, I’ve got a scar at the back of my head where they took out the tumour and then I have a scar where they put in the shunt. At the time, I don’t think I thought about it as scary.

“I first got monthly MRI scans and then it went to to four months and six months and now it’s a year, and they haven’t found anything yet, which is good.” 

Now, “all better”, the grade 7 pupil has more time to focus on her art and even makes time for it on her annual trip back to her homeland. 

“My mum, me, and my brother go back to visit America every year because we have family over there.,” she said. 

The American spends time at Bob Ross Studios when overseas, where she has completed two courses including experimenting with oil painting. 

“At the classes there is a painting and it’s really good because it was done by a professional and it’s a studio so everyone has their own easel and paints,” she said.  

“Then there is an instructor and they go step-by-step up the front on how to do it. They help you if you need help.

“It normally takes about five hours. It takes a while, because they do it so slowly so we know what we’re doing and can learn.”

Marley’s two pieces of work from the classes now hang proudly in her bedroom. 

“I normally go with one of my older American friends and we take the classes together,” she said.

Because of the classes in America, Marley is starting to feel more comfortable in her experimentation with oil paints.  

“I’ve started to get into oil painting, because I was normally just doing acrylics and sketching,” she said.

“With oil painting there is a base oil coat and then you start painting over the top. With oil painting I’ve learnt you’re allowed to make mistakes because you can sort of rub it off.” 

She said the technique works because it’s a wet-on-wet technique.  

“Acrylic paint dries really quickly, so you can’t make a big mistake because you won’t be able to change it.”  

Last month, Marley entered the Bay Of Fires Winter Arts Festival. 

“I did fairy wrens because the theme was Tasmanian animals. I’ve never painted a bird, and it was actually my first painting with oil paints,” she said.  

“I did a forest back ground with with all different trees and things then up close blue fairy wrens.”

The piece placed third for her age group. 

“That’s pretty good because it’s the first time I’ve entered that competition,” she said.  

“Second place was a boy who also did fairy wrens. First place was a quail, I think. It was really good and really detailed.” 

Marley spent just one day working on the art work. 

“Since it was my first oil painting, it took me a whole day. I did have an occasional break,” she said. 

“But, I learnt that sometimes you have to step away from your paintings to get a better look at it.” 

Marley has also entered competitions at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and at the Launceston Library. 

Her father Scott Pedersen said the family were very proud of what Marley had achieved. 

“Every time she enters a competition, either within school or out in the community she places. She is a remarkable kid who has used her passion for art, to help overcome the adversity of her cancer diagnosis,” he said.

Mr Pedersen is a lecturer at the University of Tasmania and said his colleagues have commented about Marley’s talents. 

“My colleague Abby MacDonald, who is an art lecturer in the School of Education, watched Marley face paint and later told me that the way she holds her hand when she brushes is a natural skill that is hard to teach students twice her age,” he said. 

Marley knows she wants art to be involved in her future, but she’s just not sure how yet.