What is art and what makes an artist? In apocalyptic comedy “This Is The End,” James Franco called his home “a piece of me”—his art—before pointing to another piece of his art, but of a canvas with Seth Rogen’s name painted beside his to symbolize the pair as a team. The film briefly goes into a moment of defining art. For laughs, Franco pokes pretentiously at his art image saying video games, Subway sandwiches and being conceived is all art.

Jokes aside, Franco has a point. Jay Baruchel, co-star of the film, saw Franco’s art differently. Mike Nichols, associate professor for Western Kentucky University’s art department lists the young girl or old woman illusion, a famous perceptual illusion in which the brain switches between seeing a young girl and an old woman, as an example of seeing art special.

“We all have a different take,” Nichols added. “You might see something that I might see different. There is a subjective element to experiencing art.”

Grace Summar: A Colorful Mind

As an 8-year old, Grace Summar’s walk-in closet was her rabbit hole to experience art. She took her art utensils and locked herself in the space filled with pillows. A precocious budding artist, she drew purple cats. Today, she draws and paints alongside cats in colorful spacious rooms, but still keeps a hallway closet as another option to leave reality.

“I decided I want to be a chef and artist and that’s what I’m doing right now,” Summar said. “Working at Spencer’s (Coffee) and making food and when I’m not at Spencer’s, I’m painting. It’s not many jobs I can do and also make art and work fulltime. All the tips that customers give us and stuff totally enabled me to do that and not be stressed out about it. It’s a very good side thing and I love them both equally.”

Summar, a student at Southcentral Kentucky Community College and full-time cook and barista at Spencer’s Coffee, 915 College St., is an artist of many styles. She draws intricate circles and currently is painting wood from her grandfather’s fallen barn. Colors and emotions, rather than subject, are her focus.

“I really love paintings with colors that look really bad together and chaotic, because I’m an anxious person. I always have a million thoughts going through my head pretty much all the time,” Summar added.

Friends that started out as customers have grown Summar’s social circle. Atlanta junior Caroline Kercher, roommate of Spencer’s Coffee cook Sarah Gust, lifts her blueberry rishi tea to-go cup and looks away from her MacBook Pro. She loses herself in the art hung on the exposed brick walls next to her table.

No piece of art in the business is created by Summar.

“I like to deal with a different escape from my art. My job is a really good way to do that,” Summar explained. “I would feel really weird if I was working and everywhere I turned there were things I painted everywhere.”

While her paintings are not everywhere at her work, her friends are. Charles Martinez, mutual friend of Summar and Gust, is Summar’s walking portfolio. He sports an intricate circle tattoo of an original design by Summar on his arm. She also wears her own design as a tattoo on her shoulder.

Yet, the permanent tattoos of her drawings wouldn’t have been pushed forward without more encouragement of her work from outside the walk-in closet as a pre-adolescent within an artistic household. Summar’s prominent influence was her high school art teacher. He told her art is how you feel and look at it from person to person, much like how the actors perceived Franco’s art from “This Is the End.”

“He has always made an emphasis with art stuff—doing no right or wrong. He was completely not pretentious,” Summar finished. “He said do whatever you feel, even if it doesn’t look good. … He was more like a friend in high school, just this adult dude doing art stuff. I kinda wanna be like that.”

Sarah Gust: Artist in Wonderland

In her loft-like apartment on State Street, Gust slowly walks up the dreamy iron-railed, wooden floored spiral staircase that opens to her bedroom. Her lovely, charming larger than a rabbit hole space could be easily compared to a catalogue double page spread on home decor for Anthropologie or Pier One. Though, furniture pieces are duplicated and could be seen in yet another woman’s home, Gust’s original art isn’t on her walls.

“I’m really inspired by, ” Gust paused. “There are just so many things. Nature, antique, just everything travelling and people who follow their dream. I’m constantly on Instagram to see how my friends are living their life. It makes me feel like I’m chasing my dreams.”

Though, Gust said at first she was hesitant to call herself an artist.

“I didn’t know I was an artist,” Gust said while doodling. “I probably thought I was weird, my high school art teacher was snobby, but Mr. Garth from Florida College, he said to me, ‘wow, you have a lot of potential.’ Just him saying that told me I can pursue this.”

Kercher interrupted.

“Sarah has to have art to have her soul be fulfilled,” Kercher said. “It’s a strange interconnection.”

Gust’s art inspires Kercher everyday, she said. Though, Gust goes with a different rhythm of her paint brush strokes than Summar uses.

“I would describe it as very whimsical, nonsense, floral. Anything that reminds me of a dream, a wonderland,” Gust said. “I also like to incorporate realistic with fanciful because reality is just too harsh.”

Gust’s intricate, dreamy drawings have too been as an illustration for a tattoo on her.

Observation and practice of visual creativity is part of the experience for both Gust mad Summar. Currently, Gust is in “Thirty Day Art Challenge,” a 14th annual event that has inspired thousands of professional and emerging artists, working in any medium, by challenging them to explore and exhibit new ideas.

Wistful water colors of floral patterns, objects, animals and her perspective of Frida Kahlo consumes her collection of her work. Her bedroom wall is her portfolio.

Gust said to get her art portfolio out there, she goes to Etsy, but sells sporadically.

“I make decent money out of it and meet awesome people,” Gust said. “I know art is literally there in my lungs. I feel like I have to paint to be myself.”