By Richie Whitt
Rafi Gogan has never listened to Led Zeppelin. She didn’t attend a Queen concert. And she’s not sure about Snoop Dogg’s notorious habit.
Nonetheless, the talented North Dallas 9-year-old is creating a buzz – and an overflow of orders – with her pastel whimsical caricatures of music legends. Urged by her mother, Amy, to paint John Lennon just for fun, Rafi now has a backlog of commissions.
“I just find my favorite picture of them on mom’s phone and try to capture their essence,” says Rafi, who attends Mitchell Elementary School. “She said my John Lennon was awesome. Now I’m having fun doing lots of them.”
Her teacher saw the Lennon piece on Amy’s Facebook page and commissioned Rafi to paint the group Creed. She’s since sold art depicting Dolly Parton, Frank Sinatra, Willie Nelson, Elvis and Prince.
Rafi currently has more than 30 orders for her $20 paintings.
“I knew she had a knack,” says Amy, who is an artist and photographer. “But the way she expresses who these stars were is impressive. People love them.”
Check out the Rafi ROCKS series here. You can commission a painting from her through Amy by emailing amygogan@yahoo.com.
