10-year-old 'mini Monet' sells her paintings for thousands of dollars and donates it all to charity

Four years ago, two of Daisy Watt's grandparents were diagnosed with cancer. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she made a painting for them. When her mother Karen noticed her talent, she asked her 10-year-old if she would like to create a painting to be displayed at a local gallery before being auctioned off to benefit cancer charities. Daisy jumped at the opportunity. Ever since then, she has been crafting masterpieces to sell for charity. Not only has she vastly improved as an artist, but she has also been able to raise £50,000 (about $66,000) through her work.

"I’m just so proud of her," her mother shared in an interview. "Although she’s always been really creative, ever since she could hold a paintbrush, it wasn’t until she created that painting for her grandparents that we realized she had something special." Ever since she began her journey as a painter, bidders from all over the world have sought after Daisy's paintings. Her first piece for the cancer charity auction, a painting of forget-me-nots in memory of those who had died and bright flowers for those who survived, was sold for £9,500 (just over $12,500). The painting featured variation in color tone, ranging from dark to light, to represent the battle against cancer.

The masterpiece was so popular that a hundred special edition prints of it were commissioned and bought by buyers scattered across the globe, from Canada to Hong Kong. Ever since then, little Daisy has spent most of her days painting. To date, she has auctioned off 25 works for charity, sold one-off originals, and even developed prints—which sell for £100 ($130) apiece. After her rise to fame, the organization Cancer Research even featured one of her paintings on their "thank you" cards which get sent out to families whose loved ones make legacy donations to them. Last year, the 10-year-old was the recipient of the Yorkshire Young Achiever for Arts award. In addition to this, for the past four years, she has won The Don Valley Festival.

According to full-time father, part-time project manager Charlie and mom Karen, their daughter is quite humble and actually gets a bit embarrassed by praise and compliments. Apparently, she is yet to recognize her own talent. "The thing is she is really shy and humble about her work," they said. "She cringes at the attention and doesn’t see what all the fuss is about." Even if Daisy may not see her own talent just yet, her mother, a primary school teacher with a degree in art, sure does. "I’ve always let her paint and be messy ever since she was small," she explained. "She is better than me. One time we were sitting down painting tulips and I turned to her and said, ‘Right, how are we going to figure out the shape here?’ I was trying to work it out and in that time she was dipping her paintbrush in different paints."

Karen continued, "Then with three different colors on the brush, she started to paint. It was just the perfect tulip! She doesn’t have to draw an outline and will splat the paint in just the right place. It just comes so naturally to her." During the lockdown, talented little Daisy has spent some of her time painting a rainbow of miniature daisies as a tribute to the dedicated frontline health workers keeping her community safe. She has thus far raised £1,700 (about $2,200) for the UK's National Health Services with magnets and cards of the design she painted. She shares her work via Facebook through the page Daisy Watt Art.