When I was growing up I was the furthest thing from an artist that you could imagine. Sure, I could stay in the lines while colouring but I couldn’t draw a straight line. I had no interest in art. I was a sociable girl and playing with my friends was my favourite thing to do. I had no patience for drawing or painting. Honestly, it never occurred to me. I did like art classes in school, however. Ironically, Art Class was my favourite subject in Elementary School. That never crossed over into my home life.

I used to keep a diary and I loved to read. These activities were likely the seeds that were planted for me to become an author. Other than a few short stories, it took a altering life event to inspire me to write a whole book. You can read more about that here. I’d always written when I was upset or angry about something. My coworkers often found me writing or typing on my iPad after something happened at work that bothered me. It was always a release and once it was out of my mind and into paper or computer, I could move forward. If I kept it bottled up, it would fester until it reached a boiling point of no return. I never wanted that to happen at work, although I’m embarrassed to say it did on a few occasions.

My love for visual art began when I discovered rubber stamping was fun. I recall one time shopping with my friend, Elaine, before I made this revelation. She was admiring some blocks of wood with a pictures on them. Most of them were $25 and up. She was considering buying one or two. I thought she’d gone off her rocker. It wasn’t long before I discovered the joys and It brought me back to my Arts and Crafts days in school. I’ve spent hours making greeting cards and wedding invitations using blocks of wood with rubber images on the bottom, dipped in ink embellished with other bling.

I’m fortunate to work in a high school and am able to attend classes with my students. I ended up in art class a few times and l really enjoyed it. I started going to art shows and every time I admired a painting, I’d think, I could do that. I’ve dabbled in art and have done a few watercolour paintings. You can see them here. I’m hoping after my retirement to expand my love of painting.

My love of interior design has been a constant in my life. I even dreamed of going back to school and becoming an interior designer. That was short lived when I realized it involved math. Measuring and architecture do not excite me. I’m a free spirit and although I’ve spent many hours scouring auction sales to find just the right piece to bring home, I couldn’t design using math. My garden was designed with the same artistic expression. I can look at a space and visualize how it should look and make it look like I see it in my mind. I don’t measure anything. I get the garden hose and shape the areas then lay newspaper, cover it with topsoil and plant a few pretty things. You can see a few pics here, here and here.

I come from a long line of artists but I’ve only discovered how many talented people are in my lineage in the past few years. My great-grandfather was a famous architect. I’ve written about him a little bit here. My cousin Jim has done more research on our ancestors and has searched for some long-lost relatives. He started a Facebook group and I’ve learned the artist genes run deep. Many of my relatives are writers and artists.