When I was little, my dad used to let me sit in his shop and build things. It was more like nailing little wood scraps together, but I think that’s where I got my love and ability for creating things.
I have gotten more into woodwork and refinishing small pieces of furniture. My dad taught me to fix things instead of buying new, and how to fix them. My mom taught me to sew, and we used to draw together. I know I got my desire for putting art before chores from them, too. But there was more than just creativity that made me an artist.
Scripture says ‘We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ – Ephesians 2:10. This is my life verse. ‘Workmanship’ means ‘poem’ or ‘masterpiece’. And if we follow His lead, the opportunities in our lives, and our ‘bent’, we will come to those things we were made to do, which glorify Him.
On the earthly level, there were other things which shaped me. My sister and I are putting together stories about the neighbors we had, and things that happened to us. A few of those things:
- Growing up next to a mental hospital where the patients would come over and try to break into the house (once one did). My mom chased one with vacuum cleaner attachments when one troubled woman came over and grabbed my sister.
- The three of us sisters used to play on the compost heap of dead goats at the goat farm where we worked as kids. I mean, they were dead, so they couldn’t hurt us.
- I used to milk goats and help shave them in the summer. Strangely, I’m working on a painting with goats in it now…my first painting containing goats.
- I used to lay in the unpaved driveway and dig down to find crystals, mica, and other gem-looking stones.
- Sometimes I couldn’t get into the house and had to wait in the car, because the neighbor’s steer had gotten out and was standing in front of our sliding glass door, looking at itself. We didn’t have cell phones, so we had to wait until our neighbor (who looked like Larry from The Three Stooges) came in her Dickie pants and mud shoes and got her steer.
There’s a lot more where this came from, but I didn’t always love my childhood. Now that I look back, I can see how blessed I was and how much it played into me being an artist. You can get ideas and make art out of anything around you or in front of you!
