Was I Born an Artist?
I now think I was born an artist, but was made to believe I couldn’t paint or draw because at school, if you couldn’t draw ‘things’ you weren’t any good. Only the gifted people took art.
I loved being in the art classrooms before we had to choose our options for those exams us oldies knew as 'O-Levels'. I loved smelling the brushes and papers, running my hands over the paint spattered wooden benches. I was fascinated by the work the older pupils were creating, but I wasn't good enough, so art just wasn't an option.
We had an art teacher - Mrs Wilcox - who was one of those mysterious arty types, wafting along the corridors wearing off the wall clothes, tying Indian silk scarves into amazing loops round her neck.
That was as close to Mrs Wilcox I would ever get.
I was in the cookery department instead. I was VERY good! I got an A grade, and it was classed as a science, so that was one of the grades I needed to get in to college to become a Beauty Therapist. The school wanted me to go to catering college! Have you seen the stress levels in those restaurant kitchens?
No thank you!
I went to college on a three year hair and beauty course in 1984 and was horrified to find we had a whole afternoon of art every Friday. Really? I couldn't draw for toffee! I was on a course where almost everyone had taken art to O-Level, if not A-Level.
I was way out of my depth and Fridays always loomed ahead like a depressing cloud.
I wasn’t good enough!
My grandfather was an artist. Oils mainly but also some watercolour. He was also a potter and was pretty good a wrought iron work! He would help me with my homework a lot! He didn’t do it for me, just showed me techniques to help me through.
I wasn’t as ‘good’ as the others at the actual figurative side of things, but I knew what I wanted to communicate. I didn't find it easy and Friday afternoons were never really enjoyable, but I got through!
I actually got a distinction!
I left College and went straight into running my own business. A small therapy room above a hairdressers. My art ‘experience’ enabled me to talk with printing companies who were designing my first business cards, and for me to draw my own posters - remember, this was way before the internet and Canva!
It wasn’t until I was in my mid twenties and I decided to go on a few art courses as holidays, that I realised the deep connection I had with nature, and how I could bring that feeling onto paper with watercolour.
Remember my age! This was well before acrylics and mixed media. Watercolour was all I knew, until I discovered hand painting on silk. As my businesses grew, I had less free time and my paints got put away. I'd painted our wedding invitations but after that, nothing until about seven years ago.
There were a few nudges for me to start painting again, but in a very different way. No more copying hydrangeas from the garden or painting imaginary fish under the sea. This was explosive. It was abstract and it took my by surprise. It just flowed.
I Emerged as a Abstract Energy Artist.
Maybe this was always how it was meant to be. The bit in the middle was a massive stepping stone.
My evolution as an artist, but I knew nothing about it!
If abstract art had been taught in my school in the 70s, my path would have been very different.
I’m actually a very experienced holistic therapist. I’ve had six salons, and at my peak, I employed twenty members of staff. If I hadn't been working with clients for the last forty years, I wouldn't understand the flow of energy and now be painting the way I do.
Who knew back then that I’d be creating art that holds frequency and speaks to your soul?
The piece below is called 'Second Time Lucky'. Created back in 2018. Quite poignant now. Maybe this is a second chance to move in to my true calling?
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