How a Little Girl is Painting Big Dreams

In a cozy neighborhood in Asheville, North Carolina, lives a budding artist whose work is turning heads far beyond her years. Meet Lily Rivera—a spirited seven-year-old with a paint-splattered apron, a quiet confidence, and a dream as big as her imagination.

While many kids her age are just starting to explore their creativity, Lily has already developed a signature style. Her paintings, filled with swirling skies, whimsical animals, and radiant colors, often leave viewers in awe. Her favorite subjects? “Unicorns, galaxies, and places that don’t exist—yet,” she says with a giggle.

When Lily was just four years old, she began her artistic journey. Sarah and Miguel Rivera, her parents, noticed that she preferred watercolors and crayons to toys. “She would spend hours drawing, completely lost in her own world,” Sarah recalls. “We realized that this wasn't just doodling when she painted a dragon flying through a rainbow tunnel one day. She was telling stories.”

By age six, Lily had her first small exhibition at a local coffee shop. The walls were lined with her artwork, and customers couldn’t stop talking about the pieces—some even purchased them. Encouraged by the response, Lily’s parents helped her create an Instagram account to share her work. To their surprise, she quickly gained a following of thousands.

“People often ask me what inspires me,” Lily says, tilting her head thoughtfully. “I think it’s mostly my dreams and what I feel inside. When I’m happy, I use yellow. When I’m curious, I use purple. And when I don’t know what I feel, I just mix all the colors together and see what happens.”

Her creative process is straightforward but genuine. After a rough sketch, each painting uses acrylics, watercolors, or even glitter to add color in spurts. Though she’s been offered formal art classes, Lily prefers to create freely. “I don’t want anyone to tell me what a sky is supposed to look like,” she insists. "I can have a pink sky." The Riveras are careful to keep Lily's childhood balanced despite her growing popularity. Miguel states, "We want to nurture her passion without putting pressure on her." “Art should be fun. She still goes to school, plays with friends, and yes—she even forgets to clean her brushes sometimes.”

Lily’s biggest dream is to one day publish her own illustrated storybook. “It’ll be about a little girl who paints doors to other worlds,” she explains excitedly. “Each door is a color, and behind it is a new adventure.”

She is content with the jars of paint, her easel by the window, and the ever-expanding world in her mind for the time being. Her work has been featured in two local art fairs, and a children’s museum recently reached out about showcasing her paintings in an upcoming exhibit.

“She reminds us all that art has no age,” says Rebecca Lang, the curator of the Asheville Young Artists Gallery. “Lily’s work is not just cute—it’s powerful. Many adult artists attempt to achieve emotion, depth, and a fearless use of color for years. When asked if she considers herself a real artist, Lily smiles and shrugs. “I don’t know. I just paint what I feel. But if people smile when they see it, maybe that means I am.”

Lily Rivera, just seven years old, is already demonstrating that creativity has no boundaries and that even the tiniest paintbrush can sometimes have the greatest impact.