For Gary Schemedes Jr., art is everything.

Gary, 16, who is autistic, fills his days by avidly creating unusual clay sculptures and drawing bright, colorful comic strips and cartoon-like characters. “Gary is gifted, like all people who have autism,” said Clarence Weefur, who for the past three years has tutored the Glen Burnie teenager through Trellis Services, an autism organization. “He decided to use his creativity, to put it to work.”