When he was a kid, Hooksett’s Stephen Southerland liked to draw while listening to stories. As a student, he drew while learning history lessons.

But art became more than a hobby. Now 22, Southerland has accumulated a portfolio of work and aspires to make a living as an artist.

“I’d really like to do book illustrations and exhibit paintings,” said Southerland, a design major concentrating in illustration who received his bachelor of fine arts degree from Rivier College in Nashua on May 16.

“I’ve been drawing since I was 5 and could never stop,” said Southerland, who was homeschooled. When he was a teenager, he took a drawing fundamentals class and a portfolio class at Currier Museum of Art in Manchester.

Southerland’s works include “Self Portrait,” and “Jonah,” two acrylic paintings on canvases, along with “Empty,” and “Blind,” a pair of oil paintings on canvas panels.

Participation in the school’s May exhibit was one of Southerland’s graduation requirements. Approximately 100 people attended an April 26 reception at the gallery with the young artists that kicked off the exhibit.

It was not the first time, however, that Southerland has had his work displayed for public viewing. A couple of years ago, he exhibited a pair of paintings at a juried show at the college.

And his self-portrait was featured at a special exhibition of works by New Hampshire art students at the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery in Portsmouth.

“It’s nice to get feedback from people,” said Southerland.

Artists put a long time into their work and it’s nice to learn what others think of their piece, he said.

“What does a fresh set of eyes think of about this?” he said.

Southerland would like to earn a master of fine arts degree.

Sister Theresa Couture, an art professor at Rivier who runs the gallery, hopes he’ll go on to graduate school. She calls Southerland a special student and said he brings passion to his art.

“Stephen’s had a very interesting journey at the college,” said Couture, noting that he discovered an affinity for painting.

Not all of Southerland’s publicly viewed pieces have hung on gallery walls. He’s also painted murals. He worked on one at a Nashua elementary school as a service learning project, painted one on a home owner’s ceiling, and plans to create one in a doctor’s office.

But one mural that he helped paint two years ago drew considerable public attention. The mural – featuring caricatures of five past presidential candidates – decorated the brick façade of a Manchester diner that had become a landmark for the New Hampshire presidential primary.

Before it closed, the Merrimack Restaurant on Elm Street had been a popular place for Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to greet voters. The mural project had been designed and overseen by Peter Noonan, a local professional illustrator who knew Southerland and enlisted him to help. Southerland painted the caricature of former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart – an image about eight-and-half-feet high.