Between her full-time job as a graphic designer for Ameristar Casino and 18 credit hours as a business administration major at Lindenwood University, Danielle R. Thompson still manages to find time to tap into her creative side.  

The 23-year-old artist has 20 abstract paintings on display in the O'Fallon Cultural Arts Center Gallery in the Renaud Spirit Center from now until the end of the year. Thompson's primary skills have been in drawing, as well as colored pencil and pastel work. This exhibits marks her first foray into painting.

She got started on the works in the exhibit during the summer when she was visiting her boyfriend at the University of Missouri. When he asked her to paint him some pictures for his new place she decided to give it a shot.

"I was like ok, I'll try it and see what happens," she recalled. "So I got a canvas and I got some ideas and it came out awful and we were laughing about it. And then I don't know what happened, but we just started listening to some techno music, like mood music, and it just developed into this really cool piece."

Thompson, whose studio is in her parents' basement, said her boyfriend remains her inspiration.

"He's a really good guy," she said. "He puts me into a good mood and gets me concentrated. We'll have paint parties some nights, where we'll turn on some techno music and just go crazy."

Thompson's display in the Renaud Spirit Center marks her debut feature in a public art gallery. With a simple e-mail to the gallery asking about available space, her pieces were reviewed, approved, and in the end accepted by a unanimous vote.

Titan, she said, is one of her favorite pieces.

"And that (was) a mistake piece but it ended up coming out really cool," Thompson said. "At first I was like, 'I really don't like this.' But then me and my brother started playing around with it and it ended up coming out really cool."

Like many artists, Thompson said she wants viewers to interpret her work through their own eyes and experiences.

"Whatever people pull from my art is what I'm trying to get them to pull from it," she said.

The exhibit will run until Dec. 31.  All the Thompson paintings can also be viewed and purchased online at DanielleT.net.

Her advice for aspiring artists is plunge in.

"Just mess around with it. Get a canvas, get some gesso, get some texture paint and just mess around with it and eventually it will all come together and if you don't like it, remember you can always redo it," Danielle said. "And eventually cool stuff happens and that's how a lot of this stuff here happened. They were like the mess around, practice pieces and they ended up turning out pretty cool."

Upcoming displays of  Thompson's artwork include an exhibit in St. Peters City Hall from March to May.