In painting years, I am a pup. Learning to walk, I find myself gleefully moving about, tripping unexpectedly, hearing shouts from the sidelines – “Don’t go there,” along with “Thata girl”– and wondering where these feet can take me. Now, you might question my advancement. After all, a “pup” at 4 years (how long I have been painting) can do a lot more than walk. Why so slow you might ask? Here is my defense. My earliest experience of life was touch and go with my mom and I barely surviving childbirth. I figure this set the stage for me to have rocky beginnings.
Another inauspicious start showed up at age 12 when my father rudely dismissed my first painting effort. I was crushed and dumped my first effort into the bin – only decades later took to the brush. These two events may have little to do with a slow start but just another story I tell myself. I think it is closer to the truth that it takes a lot of time to get good at any art form. Regardless of what is true and what is not, I want you to know this blog is an accounting of my truth, not fictionalized or dressed up for the public appetite. It is a journey of development and I anticipate the joy of being able to skip, and eventually run.
I am going to share with you what I am learning about life as I paint. And learning about design, self-expression, creativity, and of course, painting. There will be connections to my other lives as a psychotherapist, metalsmith, and art jewelry designer. The creative journey has been a big part of my life, so I am pretty much a full-grown dog in this department. Not sure the metaphor is working, but you get my drift.
It is my hope that my meanderings help light your creative path.