Alex Kessler isn't old enough to drive, but he has a talent for drawing that goes far beyond his 14 years.

Kessler, an eighth-grader at Panther Valley spends much of his free time sketching wildlife, cars and whatever inspires him.He got the biggest recognition of his young career so far when the Borough of Coaldale recently asked him to create a work to hang in their meeting room."It was great to get the chance," Kessler said. "My Uncle Todd works for the police. He told my mom, and she told me about it."People in Coaldale may already recognize Kessler's work, which can be seen at Tommy's Restaurant. His grandparents own the eatery.For Coaldale, Kessler drew the town's symbol, a tiger, perching on top of a boulder of anthracite coal, representing the area's mining heritage.The tiger, which combines paint, charcoal and colored pencil, took several sessions.While figure drawing is something that Kessler enjoys, the work required him to use some skills that would be more commonly found in high school art classes. In order to get the coal to his liking, he had to sketch with charcoal for the first time."I never worked with charcoal before. Getting a certain type of texture on that was difficult," he said. "The tiger wasn't too difficult."Kessler prefers creating art with his hands instead of using Photoshop or other digital ways of creating art.Like many artists, he says he does his best work at night. On weekends, he prefers the early morning hours.He said while it's just a hobby now, someday he would like to attend art school."Eventually I think I'd like to go to a college for art - I don't have my expectations high, but I would like to go," he said.