When I was in high school, I secretly wanted to do art, but I thought all of my friends were better artists than me. I thought that if you were an artist, you could draw and paint and sketch with perfection, and you used brushes and paints and sometimes different papers and had beautiful sets of colored pencils and could duplicate anything. There's a part of me that still thinks that. My high school best friend, Nancy, drew the most amazing picture of a wizard climbing, what was probably the stairway to heaven.( It WAS the 70's!) She drew it in pencil and the image has stayed with me for the rest of my life. I was in awe of her talent. I didn't think that I could be an artist and I was envious of the people that had that spark. Here's a picture of me in high school, about 15 years old, all blue eyeshadow and blemishes. I was too young to understand what being an artist means.
Terrie~!~
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you remember that drawing :) Do you also recall that my art teacher gave me an 'F'?? From that point on, I realized I was not an artist...not compared to everyone else out there...At what point do we stop comparing ourselves to others and believe in our gifts?
You, my dear, are one of the most creative and talented spirits I know~ Do not ever doubt that for a minute...now go forth and create!
And, by the way, I love the picture...was that junior year? You haven't changed ('cept for the blemishes and eye shadow...)
~May you stay forever young~
With love from your oldest friend!!
Awww...Thank you Nancy! You were definitely the artist I held myself up against! As teenagers we try so hard to find our space to fit in and I thought you were "the artist." I'm not sure what that made me then...filled with self- doubt, probably!
ReplyDeleteI sort of share your story. I was in gifted & talented art in school & my instructors were former college teachers. So we were very lucky to learn from them & be pushed to higher standards. I have always been a super competitive person & was born with confidence, but there was one boy who was soooo much better than I was at art. I too, remember the painting he created for a lesson we had . . it was so amazingly contemporary, that I never saw anything like it for 10 years . . .and, yes, it was WAY better than mine.
ReplyDeleteBut that was the 1st & last time I compared my talent to someone else's. We do all find our way in our artistic endeavors. It's part of growing up. I'm just glad that you didn't stop creating, because my parents are that story. They stopped creating & talent was lost. I have gone through big gaps in painting in the 25 yrs. since I was a teen, but never in creating. Your work is great & UNIQUE & keep on doing what you do!