to be, or not to be....an artist

from the time i was VERY young, i knew i wanted to be "an artist". not that i wanted to be the starving artist on the street doing paintings of still-life, but i knew i wanted to do something involving art and creativity. i actually have a cassette tape (do you remember those?) of me at two years old talking with my mom about what i got for christmas. i named off a bunch of random things like a dolly, and some candy. but then....the present of all presents....i had gotten a coloring book AND a paintbrush!!! if you could only hear my excitement as i exclaimed those precious gifts into the microphone. forget all those expensive gifts mom and dad probably got me that year....i wanted the $2 coloring book and paintbrush!

i remember spending hours at grandma and grandpa's house coloring in coloring books on the floor of the living room when i was young. the pages always had to be properly signed and my age prominently displayed.

when i reached second grade, i was old enough to sign up to belong to the local 4-H club. (yes, i grew up in a small town and i belonged to the 4-h club...for 10 years!!) i remember sitting there with my mom going through the pamphlet that listed all the different projects i could sign up for. i of course wanted to sign up for "drawing and painting". my mom, on the other hand, thought that it might be better for me to wait. she said she thought it was for older boys and girls. i of course persisted and signed on the dotted line as soon as i could. i ended up taking 3 art pieces to the fair that year and received 2 blue ribbons (first places) and 1 red ribbon (second place). i was SO PROUD! and i remember thinking "i told you i could do it". that was probably the beginning of my drive to prove people wrong. if someone tells me it can't be done. i will do everything in my power to prove to them it can.

as a side story....in college i was told you couldn't make a bird house out of glass. (don't ask!!) i promptly went back to my dorm room and proved everyone wrong. and of course aced the project.

so what am i getting at here? well, the point of this whole post was to talk about dreams. i'm not sure what my mom's purpose was in trying to tell me i wasn't old enough to be in "drawing and painting". maybe she was just looking out for me and didn't want me to be disappointed. maybe she secretly didn't want to encourage my love of art. either way....since i'm a parent now, i think about these things. i wonder what i will do if the little dude tells me he wants to be an artist someday....or a nfl football player....or an actor....or something equally "dream-like".

i know that i made the right decisions for me. i love what i do. i never thought twice about it. i actually have no idea what i would have been if it wasn't dealing with some sort of art. it worked out fine for me, but it could have been equally disappointing if it hadn't.

maybe he'll want to be an astronaut...at least that's more attainable!