My life as an artist is always changing.  Much to my consternation, I can never seem to stay in one place creatively for very long.  I paint with watercolors, relishing the lovely oozles and wazzles, only to have this passion give way to soft pastels and their gorgeous, vivid swipes of color.  This goes along for a time until the romance of charcoal grabs me and throttles my color-drunk eyes into seeing the sumptious passages of grey to black on off-white paper.  At some point my heart will yearn for color again and out come the acrylics or the collage papers.  Then, without warning, yarns will begin to lure me into knitting or crocheting…fabrics will speak to me of what they want to be made into.  I begin designing things to wear or give as gifts. Along the way, Genevieve pops up in my sketchbook, wanting to be my voice.  She now has her own a children’s book with another in the works.

The creative path I’ve been on for 17+ years now, has not been straight and narrow. More like, winding, circuitous, hilly, uphill trudges opening into sweeping vistas that then lead down tricky, rocky paths.  I have been an exhibiting artist in and around my region of NC.  I have been represented by a gallery.  I have sold many paintings, attended lots of art show openings, taken workshops from some incredible artists, been a regular member of local figure and portrait drawing sessions, dabbled in illustration, taught drawing and painting classes as well as knitting and crochet classes. I currently teach Kindergarten through 8th grade students at Redeemer School in Winston-Salem, NC.

But through it all…I’ve kept sketchbooks.  These are my treasures.  These contain the art with which I’m most delighted.  They contain the sketches for larger more finished works.  They contain first-blush ideas.  They contain failures, if there is such a thing in art.  They contain drawings and paintings, both dashed off as well as refined, of my life.  They contain places I’ve been, where I live, my family and sometimes friends.  They are, in a very real sense, the golden thread through all the circuitous adventures of being an artist.  And though I’m not currently exhibiting my art in local shows, or painting commissions as I often as I once used to, I’m happily drawing in my sketchbooks, chronicling and celebrating the life I’ve been given…a beautiful life as wife and mother of three.

A bit like Martin Luther (though not having my life depend on it) I contentedly say:

Here I stand draw, I can do no other.

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