My friend Jaime always teases me about my love for modern art. "I could paint that for you!" she might say, or "I'll get my niece to make you one just like that."

Well, Jaime's not related to Marla Olmstead, but if she was, I would take her up on the offer in a second. Marla's abstract paintings have, since the young age of two, been making quite a stir in the art world. She recently began her first gallery show in her Binghamton, New York hometown.

Marla uses bright acrylic paints, which she brushes, splatters and scrapes on large canvases to create art that commands attention. She sometimes works on one piece for days at a time. When she decides she is finished, she gives her paintings titles such as "Dinosaur," or something reminiscent of a bedtime monster. Then she leaves the grown-ups to see images and meaning.

She's already sold a number of paintings, and her parents are starting to be sensitive about the slightest hint that they might be exploiting her - she love to paint, they say, and she can stop when she wants. All the money goes into her bank account, which now stands at a whopping $40,000. *sigh* I'm priced out already.

Thanks to Daddy Types, where I originally learned of Marla.