Away We Go!

Hello everyone, or anyone, or whoever!  You're all welcome!


Well, I'm finally getting my first entry down; I can't believe that I'm finally doing this.  I've been waiting for a while to start posting.  I think I was a bit afraid.  Afraid of what you might ask?  Well that's just it.  I don't really know.  But that's okay, because whatever it was, I am standing up to it.  :)


The whole purpose of this blog is to chronicle my artistic adventure over the past year, as well as to chronicle into the future.  This past year has been one of amazing inspiration and creativity.  In this blog I will sometimes name other artists and authors.  If I do this, I will post a link to their blog or website.  For instance, right now I am taking a class by Kelly Rae Roberts.  It's an amazing class that I needed to take because it was the next logical step in my adventure, as is this blog.  Let me give you a little background about myself...


I have always been artistic, ever since I was young.  My earliest memory of being artistic was drawing pictures of people that looked like Cabbage Patch kids.  This was during the first reign of popularity for the dolls. I was in third grade. My neighbor drew a picture in my style and taped it to our door with a note that said it was from my secret admirer.  I just remember how excited I was that there was someone else out there who created in much the same style that I did.  Imagine how disappointed I was when I realized that it was just my neighbor, and she was just imitating my work to let me know that I liked it.  Ever since early time in my life, I was always looking for like-minded people to share artistic endeavors with.


All throughout grade school, middle school, and high school I took art classes and found my niche in graphite drawings - mostly of people.  I became pretty good at drawing people.  But I had a very limited repertoire.  When I got to college (my first time around), I was not sure what I wanted to do or be when I "grew up".  At that time I was more into writing than drawing, but I wanted to do both.  I became an English major with an art minor.  It was during this time that my artistic hopes were completely crushed.  I was taking a multi-media art class and we had the assignment of making an insect out of wire.  This was not an easy task for me, and the insect I made (which I no longer have) was not a pretty sight.  So the professor, instead of helping me figure out how to make my insect better, told me that I had no business being in art classes.  After that class I was crushed.  I thought she was right.  So I gave up my artistic dreams.


That happened many years ago, around 1995.  Since then, I never took my art seriously.  In fact, I pretty much stopped doing art altogether.  I mean, occasionally I would pick up my pencil and draw a picture, but I never held out any aspirations of becoming an artist.  In 1998 I got married to my fabulous husband.  When we got married, I would draw and create every once in a while.  He liked my work, and that made me happy.  But then I decided that I wanted to be an English teacher, so I went back to college and got my degree.  My art practice pretty well went on permanent hiatus, and did so even more after my daughter was born.


That was six years ago.  So how did I get from completely leaving art out of my life to letting it shower me with love and inspiration?  Well, as I began teaching I began to get very depressed.  I was always working, and when I wasn't, I would just watch t.v.  Finally, on a whim, I took a painting class that I fell in love with.  My husband let me turn one of the rooms in our house into an art room (which would later turn into my daughter's toy room).  But my painting practice did not last long.  By the time I got all of my painting materials out after work, there wasn't really enough time to paint and put everything away before it was time for bed.  So eventually I gave that up too.  But I had realized that I needed something creative to help me cope with everyday life. 


Jewelry!  Beading was something that I could do and get put away before bed.  Earrings were quick to make, and I could make at least one necklace in a couple of hours.  For a while I was appeased with jewelry making.  I even sold a few pieces to co-workers.  But eventually I still knew that I wasn't getting to the creative retreat that my brain so needed!


So, at the end of last summer, I became inspired!  My younger sister and I were perusing the shelves at Barnes and Noble (we have a weekly trip) while my older sister entertained my daughter in the children's section.  We often meander around the whole store, picking up and looking at books that may entertain or stimulate our brains.  After making our way to the crafting section, I picked up a book that would launch me into a whole new creative world.  Journal Bliss by Violette completely rocked my world and made me look at art in a completely different way.  That afternoon I sat in my hallway (don't ask me why) for two hours and read through the entire book.  I even marked projects that I wanted to try.  From that moment on, I was completely immersed in the creative world I had so long left behind.  It felt so good to spread my wings after they had been stored for so long.  While they were a bit rusty, I could not give up my creativity again.  Since then I have lived in the creative world...but it hasn't always been easy.


Stay tuned to read my next post "The Kinks in Creating" to find out how I battled my obstacles...


See you soon!