My name is Kaloyan Athannassov. I was born in 1994 and I am currently a senior at Vista Ridge High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. My high school is an Academy of Engineering, so I have the chance to enjoy a lot of great creative classes both in fields of engineering and arts.

I love taking challenges and I enjoy experimenting with new art media. I keep on exploring, and my latest passion is creating digital drawings using my graphic tablet. You can see a selection of my digital art here.

I am very lucky to have the most supportive family in the world. My parents have long embraced my life dedication to art and are doing everything to help me in my endeavors.

I started taking art classes at the age of 6 and have never stopped. My favorite art school in my city is the Cottonwood Center for the Arts. I have attended quite a few courses there for the past several years and I highly respect all artists teaching there.

Each spring, I am taking part in the Junior Duck Stamp Contest for the State of Colorado. The Junior Duck Stamp Program is a nationwide contest that engages K-12 students in an integrated arts and science curriculum - participants have to create a North American waterfowl art piece for submission to their state contest. The 2011 was my sixth year in a row - you can see each of my entries for that annual contest and my awards here.

In April 2011, my entry won the "Best of Show" Award for the State of Colorado, and my painting presented my state at the national Junior Duck Stamp Contest in Washington, DC.

I am proud to be part of my high school's Chapter of the National Honor Society.

I also feel honored to be part of a great program in my city, Colorado Springs, CO, that began in 1996 as a community collaboration to commend the every day good acts and accomplishments of local teenagers -  the "Mayor's 100 Teens" Program.  Becoming one of the students on that list for this year, as a senior, is a great honor and responsibility.

I love martial arts and I started training Aikido at the age of 6. I am currently working as an Aikido assistant instructor for kids and youth groups (5-14 year old) at a local Aikido club in Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak Aikido, and I love every second of it.

I took great pleasure creating every single piece of art included in this online portfolio.  Art is a work-in-progress project for me; it never stops surprising me with newer challenges and broader horizons.

And I keep moving forward.