NATCHEZ &8212; Eighty-eight pieces of art from all over the country are on display at the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, La. Two of them belong to Kelly Fuller.

Fuller, a Natchez High grad, was one of 142 artists to enter the 33rd Annual Juried Competition. Her two pieces battled 413 other entries.

&8220;It&8217;s pretty exciting,&8221; she said. &8220;It was neat watching other people walk around and hearing what they had to say about (my art).&8221;

Fuller and family attended the opening of the art show, but those viewing her art didn&8217;t know she was the artist.

&8220;I got to hear what they really thought,&8221; she said.

Her pieces, a lithograph and an etching, are the only two of their kind chosen for the show. Fuller and a friend decided to enter the elite art show as a joke. She didn&8217;t think she&8217;d be chosen. Fuller was the only ULM student chosen.

Fuller will graduate from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in May. From there she&8217;ll head to graduate school at Mississippi College in fine arts.

After graduate school the tentative plan is to teach art on the university level.

&8220;It needs to be taught,&8221; she said. &8220;It affects every aspect of life. There is art from prehistoric times to now. It&8217;s a way to express yourself without words. It&8217;s the easiest way to express emotion and feeling.&8221;

In school her concentration is pottery, but she does most forms of art including, drawing, photography and sculpture.

&8220;I&8217;ve been drawing since I was old enough to hold something,&8221; Fuller said.

One of the earliest drawings her mom still hangs onto is a three-legged horse that looks more like a giraffe, Fuller said. But by high school she was getting serious.

After two years in the associate of arts program at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Fuller started her fine arts major at ULM.

Still, it took about two years of serious work before she felt comfortable with her art, Fuller said.

She also has art in a ULM show and had a photo chosen to be on display in a campus building for a year and a sculpture handpicked by the ULM president for his office.

Fuller is the daughter of Frank and Pat Fuller.