I was NOT one of those kids that loved Art Class in elementary school. In fact, I dreaded it. I know, you’re thinking: who ddin’t love art class? Me. Honestly, I couldn’t draw. Horses seemed to be a popular theme among my classmates in elementary school. My drawings consisted of a house, on a hill, with a tree. Sometimes I would add a fence. It always looked like crap. Then I would add the sun. A boy showed me how to draw the rays of the sun: long ray, short ray, long ray, short ray. That image is still fresh in my mind. His name was Peter. I was very proud of my suns. But, on a whole; still crap.
You may now be thinking; you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, it couldn’t have been that bad. It was that bad and I’m not being hard; just honest.
I was good in math. This led me down the left-brain road. It also fit in well with my family. I liked this road; it made sense to me. It still does. My creativity was masked in logic. I was a thinker. Besides, I couldn’t draw so I couldn’t be an artist. I held that thought for most of my life.
Then I became a sewer and eventually a quilter. I still thought that I wasn’t artistic. I was just following a pattern and tweaking it here and there for whatever reason. I was still a thinker; a creative one. And then one day it dawned on me, I am an artist. I choose the fabrics and I create dimensional art. Whether it is a skirt, a wall hanging, a purse, or a quilt…..it IS a piece of art. What an eye opener.
I think as an artist. The room I create in is “My Sewing Studio.” I push my talent and have taken my craft to new levels. I try different techniques and experiment on a regular basis. I am beginning to design quilts. Most importantly, I look at things differently. I pay attention to color and shapes.
I’m still good at math, which ironically is a great talent to have in the sewing world. I am still a logical thinker. Again, a talent I tap into frequently. But I am also creative and use both sides of my brain. I still can’t draw a horse, or a cat, or a flower for that matter. That’s just fine with me.
