My earliest childhood memories consist of:- reading, mostly Enid Blyton, from first light to cover of darkness, and even under the covers with a torch!...to playing cowboys and indians, my tricycle being my trusty steed and I even had a wigwam.....I also loved to draw. I remember discovering felt pens as a child at primary school and I have never been without them, or their equivalent, since. I loved to draw trees, I still have a drawing I did as a child of 8.... My Mother used to boast that even our Dr thought it was good, for a child of my age.....and patterns, I would make them up....
Secondary school, or Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls was another matter. I was cursed with a Mathematical mind, which meant I was forced to study the Sciences.....which I detested.....that then lead me on to Nursing......which again I detested!.....I have always been creative.....you can read about this in my other blogs......there are so many other paths I could have followed.....if only I had known.....I always wanted to be a window dresser......visual merchandiser it is called now.....but I did not have the necessary portfolio.....or a Florist.....I never knew you could train to be one.....I thought you had to own a shop!!!......
Luckily for me I found ways to be creative throughout my life. During the last three years, since moving back to our native Scotland, my creative life has flourished and I have been given many opportunities, as well as the encouragement and support I needed, to succeed....I am now able to spend the majority of my time being creative, in many different ways. (Again you can read about my creative journey in past blogs)
I was recently perusing the shelves in TKMaxx where they sometimes have some craft materials......the only things avaiable that day were some watercolour paints and pencils. I remember thinking, and indeed writing, that I wished I could draw or paint.....I would Love to be able to buy 'artist's materials' in fact I dreamed of being 'an artist'....the reply I received was along the lines of.....'give it a go' and 'just do it' .......it certainly made me think!......I wrote about how I felt that being an artist was so Romantic......the thought of sitting with a sketch pad and some paints and just...painting or drawing.....I had seen lovely photos in Country Living magazine of a lil table set up in the garden.....with a jam jar of brushes, some paints and a sketch pad......one very kind lady said ' see, you have the heart of an artist!' And again this made me think!......yes I do!.......so I started thinking very hard!......how could I bring this about?....where could I start?.....what could I draw?......and then I remembered the patterns and I had images of mosaics in my head.....I started trawling the net....I just Love Google images......I started collecting a whole lot of images and one idea lead to another....
I came across a website that mentioned Geometric Abstract Art......and I thought......that is it!.....that is what I could draw, geometric patterns.....I rummaged thru my drawers (no tittering please!) and came upon a couple of notebooks.....one has squared pages and one has dots!......perfect for geometric patterns.....once I started I found the ideas began to flow......Ever since I renovated and painted the Summerhouse I have been dying to sit out there and do some crafting, now was the perfect opportunity... I took my notebooks and Gelly Roll pens with me and set myself up, with my iPad full of photos for Inspiration. I then came across some doodling designs and Mandalas.......I was in my element!....after a couple of days of using the notebooks I decided to try freehand and was more than pleased with the results. Today I bought a geometry set and started on the mandalas.....I Loved it!....
I have a project lined up for the Autumn and as we have a lot of visitors coming to stay in August I have decide it shall be the month of Art for Art sake!......just drawing for the sake of it!......I have learned a lot already, indeed I have discovered a lot about myself and my inner artist who has been hiding deep within, just waiting for the timing to be right to appear. I have also learned that drawing does not have to be perfect.....that mistakes are allowed!.....they can be corrected or incorporated and that imperfections are what make my work unique!.....I am Happy being an Artist and cannot wait to see how much progress I have made by the end of the month. I have set myself a very small challenge.....to design 6 postcards to send to Family and Friends.......:) xxx
I have now discovered Zen Dangles thanks to two Inspiring books by Joanne Fink called Zenspirations......loving these too :)
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