SNOQUALMIE – If an issue or subject comes along that Amanda Ryan feels passionately about, you’re more than likely to find it featured in a concise, focused cartoon.

Mad cow disease, dress code policies and issues directly affecting her peers are just some of the subjects Ryan covers in her art.

Sounds like the everyday work of a political cartoonist, except this one is 13.

“I think it’s boring to draw things that don’t have meaning [a message],” said Ryan.

The Snoqualmie Middle School eighth-grader began her artistic run at an early age.

“I used to draw all over things when I was 3,” said Ryan.

Scribbling on chairs and walls with whatever implement she could find evolved into drawing people and animals. Ryan said sometime in the last few years her focus turned from the typical inanimate artistic subjects to a look at issues facing the community and her peers.

Ryan has plenty of issues from which to draw, and her teachers are not out of bounds when it comes to the sketches.

Rene Peterson, who supervises Ryan during her exploratory period and teachers her writing class, said she’s been the subject of more than one cartoon, including an amusing interpretation of her doling out the classroom rules.

“There’s something that Amanda has – a perception, how she sees the world – that really comes through in her art,” said Peterson.

Although the works are amusing, it wasn’t necessarily the art itself that turned the doting teacher’s eye toward Ryan.

“The sheer volume, that’s what got my attention,” said Peterson.

Ryan, who’s also a member of the choir and enjoys playing the piano, turns out about three cartoons on any given day. While she keeps many, Ryan bestows most of the work on friends, family and teachers. Recently she created a poster advertising a school dance, adding yet another notch to her growing artistic resume.

“I never know what I’m going to get, it’s awesome,” said Peterson of the cartoons she receives.

Nurturing an unusual talent may be tough due to Ryan’s age, Peterson said.

“Cartooning is not taught in many places, it’s difficult to develop,” said Peterson.

That’s not stopping the duo from exploring opportunities outside of the school setting. Peterson and Ryan are searching for summer classes and programs on the Eastside and in the Seattle area.

Just where the penchant for cartooning came from, Ryan still does not know.

Her mom, Heather, is an artist – she’s painted a mural for a local physical therapist’s office – and brother Dan, 11, enjoys drawing, but Amanda’s work is nothing like anything in the family.

Just what the future will bring Ryan is not sure, but art will more than likely play a role, she said.

For now, Ryan’s friends, family and teachers will just have to see what the next cartoon brings.

“It’s remarkable for anybody,” said Peterson. “To be able to do this at 13, it’s off the charts.”

Travis Peterson can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at travis.peterson@valleyrecord.com.