A Detour to the Right Path…My Evolution as an Artist

             

  I have been an artist at heart for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories range from finger painting at my parent’s kitchen table and participating in childhood art contests, to soaking up every detail I could in my elementary school art classes.

                  In high school, I had an amazing art teacher who really pushed us creatively while teaching the skills needed to execute diverse projects. At this time, I was much freer in my work. I used bold colors, surreal ideas, and a lot of representational shapes and patterns in my art. The pieces I was creating at that time were very stylized.

                  Before I knew it, much of my time became devoted to working at and then running a small business with my husband and raising our family. My creativity took a turn to quilting, textile arts, and stained-glass creations. I learned how to design and follow my own patterns.

                  

          As my kids started to grow up, I found more time for myself. I started drawing and painting again. I participated in some classes at the local Arts Council and explored new mediums such as print making, photographic silk screening, and others.

           I discovered that at this time in my life, I was more focused on realism than my previous, more stylized works. My younger self didn’t have the patience for realism. I needed to get the ideas in my head out quickly. I wanted to use my imagination and make images into concepts of my own. I explored and used colors in a way that made me feel a lot of things.  Currently, I am on a journey back to a looser style, but to grow, I owe myself the time to really refine my skills along the way.

                  One part of this art trip of mine that I’ve always regretted was not finishing a college degree. This past August, the baby of our family headed off to college. I decided that it was now or never. Finally the timing was perfect! As a woman on the brink of fifty, I enrolled in the graphic design program at a local community college.

                  I am currently in my second semester there, and I am thrilled with what I’ve learned from and how I’ve grown already in the drawing and design courses I’ve taken. I am excited to be learning yet another medium, computer imaging. The wheels are spinning in my brain, thinking of all the new ways I can create art. 

        

          My advice to you, the reader, is this…stay true to your passion. Always follow your dreams. I could have said, “I’ll be 52 by the time I earn a degree.” and pushed the idea aside. But guess what!? I am going to be 52 anyways!! I might as well arrive there with a goal achieved and skills learned!! I’ve already made up my mind-this next half is going to be the best half!!!