Wow, this really stood out to me when I was looking fro something to read. You make us like Arthenise, and make us all the more attached to her as the story continues.
But I dislike your first paragraph, because you just seem to dump a LOT of info about her all into a few lines. It may help if her actions indiacte things like 'she was artistic' by saying something simple about a painting she passed on the wall that she had painted.
Overall, you did a good job with this.