I would love to have some form of artistic talent. The ability to create a beautiful scene onto a blank canvas leaves me envious. My brother is an artist. His sketches are so detailed and life like, I just stare at them in awe. My daughter inherited his talent...YES! I love to watch her sit on the couch with her lap desk and work on her drawings or take leftover yarn and knit saddles for her stuffed horses. It makes my heart sing! I have zero artistic ability. ZERO! I'm even afraid to paint my walls, that is how little talent I have. How I wish my parents had been able to share that DNA with me. But alas, my little brother holds all of it...along with the beautiful strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and long eyelashes. But I'm not bitter or anything...
What I have learned from living with two artists, is that they are a bit...messy. I remember as a child my brother having a drawer in his dresser filled with the pieces of broken toys. He would pull the drawer out and have the pieces spread all over his bed, putting different parts together to create a new "invention." He once combined a Barbie brush, a steering wheel, and a magnifying glass to make a moustache comber for our dad. Dad has always had a thin moustache. His bedroom walls were covered with portraits of his favorite musicians. He once sketched a portrait of Jerry Garcia that looked as though he would speak to you! Amazing.
Now I am grown and my daughter is the house artist. You know those pictures that you see in magazines of perfectly manicured homes devoid of all clutter? That will never, and I mean never, be my house. Currently, there is an entire corner of the dining room devoted to art supplies and display. I'm not just talking pencils and paint, I'm talking boxes of every shape and size, empty paper towel rolls, and duct tape. Duct tape is a fact of life, artist or not. The walls and refrigerator are covered with pictures of horses and various dogs and cats. I remember being a new single mom and not having a lot of money for decorations, so I took my daughter's drawings and decorated our great room with them. Made for such happy surroundings. The other rooms of the house have a corner that contains drawing supplies, large books or a lap desk to draw on, and of course...boxes of various shape and size. You see, a Dairy Queen box may be handy for holding your lunch...but they also make great giraffes. Couches, end tables, entertainment centers, can all hold a number of pencils, crayons, and yarn. Need a pencil at my house? Just look beside you.
Now granted, I have tried to organize this all at various times. But it is as though it has a life of it's own! To the naked eye it may appear as clutter, but to my daughter, they are tools. Not only tools, but creations in the making. Oh to be inside that mind! To be able to look at a box and see it's potential. I get a panic attack planning to paint two colors on one wall. Can it be done??? The ceiling too? ARGH!! Sometimes the mess may be frustrating, sometimes I may sigh as I look around me; but when push comes to shove, I would have it no other way. I am held captive in creativity, and it is glorious!
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