Over at city-o-clay, a yahoo group that I belong to, many of the members are introducing themselves. I thought I'd do the same thing here. There's a lot of people who subscribe to this blog....many more then I ever thought possible! Here's my story:
I'm a miniaturist new to the world of doll houses and to clay. I never knew this hobby existed before 1-1/2 yrs ago. It appeals to my creative urges and the more deeply I delve into it, the more pleasure I get from it.
As a child I was never without a pencil in my hand. Any candid photos of me back then always show me drawing. Neither my mother nor my stepfather had any artistic sides to them; my biological father....who I got my talent from...had died when I was 3. I still have a wooden church that he made as an advent calendar, using scavenged wood. It has little window shutters that can be opened to reveal brightly painted "stained glass" windows.
By the time I reached high school, an educator told me that I didn't have enough talent to make a living from my art. Looking back, I'm not sure if he was being honest or merely suggesting I look elsewhere to my future. In any case I had no encouragement and I have never drawn since.
I had an unhappy childhood and so, like many girls my age, married the first man who came along. Unfortunately I jumped out of the fire and into the frying pan. But for a few years while my kids were small and I didn't go out to work, I enjoyed crafts and making things with & for them.
One year I made a salt dough creche with 3 wise men looking down at the baby. Because we lived in a very tiny house, when Christmas was over, my only storage option was the attic. By the following Christmas, the heat from the attic must have weakened the dough and my wise men were all looking straight up to heaven. At least that's what I told my kids...
Then my husband died and I spent many years, trying to earn enough to survive on. I went back to school; worked two jobs. Artistic inclinations were the furthest thing from my mind.
Ten years ago I met my soul mate...the other half of me. There is an alternate story of the garden of Eden in which it is said Adam & Eve were one entity. When they were expelled from Eden, as their punishment their soul was torn into two and ever since, each of us while on earth looks for their other half to make their soul complete. As I said I've found mine when I met Ken.
And for five years now I've been on "early retirement". I finally have the time and the encouragement to be artistic again. I wish I had been able to go to art school. Who knows what I might have become. But wishes aren't horses...
So here I am. And if this story does nothing else, maybe it'll stop one other child from being told that it's not smart enough or not good enough to do something. We, all of us, need sunshine in our souls.
Thank you for the encouragement in your comments. And thank you of thinking enough of me to follow my ramblings.....