Fouke artist Christina Frost says she is a people person.

Only for her it’s more about being an observer, she says.

“Not necessarily to talk to them. More observation than anything,” Frost said recently while sitting down to discuss her work just before her graduation.

Frost recently completed studies at Henderson State University and, like other senior art majors at the college, her work was exhibited for the college community there in Arkadelphia.

Now, she’s about to embark on a career in arts education at a Texarkana school.

One of her recent projects, though, gave her a chance to learn about someone else and how they lead a very different life. Artists, of course, can learn as much from their subjects as they do their studies.

For Frost, it was a homeless Texarkana man who inspired a series of photos that capture the perseverance and tough life of being on the street.

“Initially I had wanted to take pictures of old men in the coffeeshop having their coffee. It just never worked out to where I could actually be there early enough to catch all of those people,” said Frost.

But an assignment spurred her to drive to town and take pictures of people on the street. That did not go as planned until she viewed one man sitting alone in the College Hill neighborhood.

Unlike some other people she approached, he welcomed her to take photos.

To her, he was an inspiration. “He was just sitting there by himself, and I told him what I was doing ... I asked him, I said, ‘Do you mind if I take your picture,’ and I explained to him what I was doing,” she said.

“He told me he would be honored,” Frost said.

It was a startling, emotional experience for her to meet him. He intrigued her and they built a rapport through the conversation. And now he holds a special place in her heart, she said.

“It was interesting how he had his clock and his Bible and all of his belongings just kind of laid out,” she said. “He and I talked for quite a while, and he’s a sweet man, a very sweet man. He said, ‘Now honey, if you’re out on the streets taking pictures be careful.’ And I said, ‘OK.’”

“We talked for about an hour-and-a-half, and during that conversation he told me that God had sent him an angel that day,” Frost said.

But she believes it was this man who was an angel.

“You don’t know until you’ve walked in someone’s shoes,” she said, noting she sees him around town every now and then.

There are six pieces in total for this series, and one of them was donated to Henderson State University. The concluding piece is a photo of an angel sculpture.

Like many other artists, she traces that interest in art back to someone who inspired her.

“I’ve wanted to teach for a long time, and when I was in junior high I had an awesome art teacher. I’ve always been involved in art,” said Frost about a teacher in De Queen. Now she will be teaching kids, trying to inspire them.

Here in Texarkana, Frost got started in her more formal arts education, taking any arts course she could. And at Henderson she took sculpture, ceramics, drawing and other more specific courses.

“Being an art education major, you have to do it all. I like working in all mediums, but I guess my favorite would be mixed. I feel a little more free with it,” Frost said.

Another piece is just that, a mixed media work that made her senior exhibit.

“Lost Identity” explores the many roles women take on in life. It was inspired by a friend, but Frost said most women deal with identity concerns when they take on so many roles—a wife, a mom, a chauffeur, a housekeeper.

“That piece is about her but it’s also about other women. It’s not just confined to her,” she said.

“Lost Identity” is a dress form reworked to be covered in pages from an Amy Vanderbilt etiquette book. It’s a challenging piece.

“I was reading through one of those I picked up at a flea market one day, and I said I cannot believe the things that are being said in this book. Some of the information is awesome, but some of it is slightly demeaning to women,” Frost said.

She used alcohol ink and regular stamp ink, as well as acrylic paint (which she likes because it dries quickly) on the dress form.

Splattering the alcohol ink created a cool effect, she said.

“Because the pad ink that I put on there, when the alcohol ink hit it it kind of washed it away a little bit. That was an unexpected but happy accident,” she said. “Experimentation is awesome.”

She has done work where she used coffee grounds because she couldn’t get the effect she wanted otherwise.

“I kind of like the off the wall and the unexpected,” said Frost, who is drawn to contemporary artists like Betty Saar and Lynne Perrella.

As far as subjects are concerned, she likes things that have a “strong sense of domesticity.”

“I like home life,” she said, noting she’s also involved with the Circle J Cowboy Church.

“I think it’s very interesting how each person has their own style, especially with their hats,” she said. She’s trying to capture that through drawings.

It can also be other aspects of domesticity, in particular those things women deal with in the household.

“Something as simple as a coffee cup sitting on the counter can be inspiring,” said Frost.

As an artist she’d like to expand more, getting out of those ruts that artists face.

“As a teacher I would love someday to find out that one of my students had gone on to an art-based career. That would be awesome,” she said. “That would be the ultimate.”