A Career in the Arts? Really? – Part II
Can you hear the gears turning?
What drives someone to desire a career as an artist?
What makes them say, I’m going to make “art” for a living?
From an early age I was drawn to creative endeavors: drawing, doodling, Play Dohing, Shrinky Dinking… you name it, I liked to do it.
Though my father wasn’t around for much of my childhood, I was fortunate to have had a mother who tirelessly encouraged my creative pursuits, providing me with endless reams of colored paper, rounded safety scissors, crayons and other implements of marking. Some of my most memorable childhood toys fell into that category.
There were the bathtub crayons, meant to be used on the tiles of our shower, and of course there were the crayon cookies; leftover crayon nibs melted together in muffin tins to form rainbow rounds (early recycling!)
Like my fondly remembered crayon cookies, sometimes it was the simplest of items that brought the most joy.
The joy of simple objects... like an egg carton... taped to your face?
Having played a large part in my early years, the importance of the arts began to fade throughout Middle School, where I focused largely on touching girls (all to no avail). It, therefore, came as some surprise when I was voted “Most Artistic” at the close of 8th grade. And certainly a great surprise to the boy who illustrated the entire yearbook.
Sadly, the arts all but died within me during the 4 years of high school, as I scribbled meaninglessly in notebooks and spent hours upon hours pouring over comic books with like minded friends. It was not until mid-way through my sophomore year of college that they surfaced again… but, boy, did they surface.
“Mom… I’m dropping out of the pre-med program… I’m going to be an artist!”
Gulp!
Click here for Part III of this ongoing look at the origins of an interest in the arts. Click here to view Part I.
One Response to “A Career in the Arts? Really? – Part II”
Now THOSE are faces a mother COULD love!
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