Quote of The Day

Thursday, September 08, 2016

Knowing Young



 These fun characters were inspired by one
of my many favourite Paint Party Friday 
bloggers  Sal Scheibe 
who was emulating Joe Sorren's art
My piece isn't as lovely or clean looking as
Sal's but it was fun to create non the less! 
Happy Helpers
 You  glaum  with creative types as a child. Usually the  odd 
ones out.   Types drawn to music, art, maybe less athletically
 inclined.  Quirky types that make you laugh Serious, isn't high 
on your agenda the way it is with left brained kids! You get 
 caught daydreaming, horsing around, heckling and making
 others laugh in class! You're all so unique, still you
 have no idea the extent of your creative ability!
Eddie Face 12 needs some white strips for his teeth!
So you ride bikes, play sports, for fun only, nothing organized! You join choir because you love to sing.... you play piano because your mother saw potential when you played sweetly and  didn't bang away making a terrible racket like other kids. You daydream in math and socials and NEVER understand what your science teacher is saying!  After all he's speaking a  foreign language in your world. Years later you still dream about those terrible classes and wake up in a hot sweat. It was never for you, it never would be! 
Even now you zone out when something too scientific is discussed!
Margie-May Face 7
The only time you need  math  is when counting your  money  ...the rest is useless until you're sewing, buying a canvas or counting crochet stitches. First you hunt for your treasured imperial measuring tape so you can  translate inches into feet or yards because even though your country changed to metric fourty years ago you never bothered to learn it. After all, imperial was already too much math for you to comprehend in your lifetime!!
Gayla Face 9

Eventually you've adapted to speed limits and temperature out of mere necessity. You hoard your imperial cook books! Incredibly grateful your  American neighbours across the border  have english recipes  imperial friendly on google so you don't have to translate a pile of measurements just to make a new cookie.
Funny how as children we hang with kids like us, yet we haven't connected all the creative dots yet! Like minded spirits match up without knowing how to requisition their talent. Instead they horse around together for years....long after they part ways they find 
just how creative they all are! Whether it's in music, sewing, carpentry, cooking, doing hair, decorating, comedy, or as  an artist and writer. Somehow as children we have that key to unlock our creative secrets, yet it often takes so long to open that precious door! 
Face 8 Carol
If you see me bawling while watching a talented young person on
 tv or youtube it's because I am beyond thrilled they've  
discovered their talent early,  honing it and holding 
it dear! It's often the most wonderful gift we own 
and the least resourced early in life!
It was a long bout of  deep greif over a dear loss,
  more weight gain, many sleepless nights, 
 countless hours deep in thought,
 that  brought me to my true artistic self!
 Until then, I  thought I was as my mother labeled me  
"an odd ball"
Face 11 Eddies Mom "Flo|....definitely need some whitening toothpaste in that house!
Kudos to her for calling me an excellent homemaker....
which I was, while working full time and holding down the fort
However mom was very artistic her whole life   yet she 
barely recognized it in me. If she did she never voiced it!
 I didn't dress to her satisfaction, I didn't paint my house
 the right colours, I was too analytical....
which she called critical....
Still somehow the little girl in me was always creating something...
 learning to sew, cook, crochet really really young!! I loved to 
write too! I was either playing the piano, singing or listening 
to music over and over...I was never bored and always looking 
for creative things to do. Anything, but, painting or drawing... 
it  never occurred to me it was possible. I would alter 
my clothes or furniture to be different and more in 
style. My first pay checks were spent on unique shoes
 that were a little over budget and usually  criticized. 
 Face 14  Lou-Anne
I always made money, and always had money. I was independent 
and needed to be with creative types...possibly what drew me 
to church groups where there was always singing and arts projects!
 As a wee girl I  even tried to decorate my own bike for a parade
which was a failure that left me carrying the
 attachment home alone! 
Face 15 Joy
I was out of my family home very young.... a few years later 
I had trendy big hair, fun clothes and a flashy car all in the name 
of creativity...yet I still didn't know it!! Oh what a joy if we
 tapped into that energy at a young age and let it grow and
flourish with us! I envy those types that just know. It stops 
the search in the quick... Funny how our young self  
 knows, yet is deafened by labels others put upon us. 
 Hipster, emo, punk, oddball, goofball, nerd. When the
 label should probably be artist or creative spirit! 
Face 10 A pencil Sketch of my Dad as a young man!
Another artist , with low self esteem,
never truly developed to full capacity
he sang, danced, and played an instrument 
by ear!
    Were you fortunate enough to 
know you were an artist early
 in life, or did you feel
like a misfit?
Flash back Friday 25 years ago Cupcakes first day of Kindergarten!

41 comments:

Faye said...

Enjoyed your post, Sherrie. I was drawing before I started to school. My dad took art in HS but had a teacher who told him you were not an artist till you could draw a perfect milk bottle (you probably don't even know what a milk bottle looks like!). Anyway, that's the "advice" he passed on to me, but the art in me was stronger than the "advice". BTW, you are really good at drawing teeth!!!

DVArtist said...

Wow this is a powerful post. I have felt all of these emotions. With that said, I LOVE your big teeth art this week. It made me smile and even chuckle out loud. Wishing you a very nice weekend.

Sweet Willow Designs said...

Wow! these faces are so energetic and joyful! Wonderful.

mandysea said...

First, thanks so much for your lovely comment on my blog last week, I've really struggled picking up a paint brush for so long, and just a comment like yours can make all the difference xx
I love your faces!! So full of character and love - I absolutely get the left-brain thing!!! And your little birds - my favourites!!

Paper rainbow said...

My goodness you have just described me. The strange kid who daydreamed during maths. Baffled by physics...spent more time making things out of cardboard and strong than doing my homework. :)

Valerie-Jael said...

Fantastic post, love the ART! Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

Lynn Cohen said...

Your art screams happiness! Bold colors, great brush strokes! Characters who make you want to know them!
I was the daydreamer in class too... Eyes out the window dreaming of far away places I would eventually get to once old enough to leave home! I still struggle to balance my checkbook, but it hasn't prevented me becoming a successful business woman with her own private counseling practice for nearly 30 years! I've enjoyed a rich and varied life so I don't think that day dreaming held me back at all ... On the contrary I think it's bided me quite well!
Have another creative week!

Tracey FK said...

love your celebration of the odd ball in all of us... and science being a different language totally resonated... it makes me feel a bit ill just thinking of it... love the way you infuse such thought and conversation into your posts...

POINTYPIX said...

what a great post and what amazing teeth your faces all have this week - I especially love Lou-Anne's amazingly large and fabulous mouth! I can relate to a lot of what you're saying in this post. I was creative all through my childhood and Maths and the science subjects totally baffled me. I loved art and English literature, but unfortunately I was also easily distracted and didn't work hard enough to get a good grade in final art exam having already decided I wanted to travel the world (I went to college to study travel and tourism when I could just have set off with a backpack and did it that way!) I picked up a brush now and again over the years, selling artwork to holiday makers when I worked as holiday tour guide in Europe and Africa and doing custom caricatures as wedding gifts but it was only when I started my blog 6 years ago that I really embraced my creativity and realised why I'd always been so desperately unhappy working 9-5 in an office environment - it was my office manager who told me to start painting again and follow my dream and, in fact, it was her who gave me my first pet portrait commission! The only regret I have in my life is not going to art school but then I wouldn't have met S and have the life I love now so I can't really regret it and besides there's no guarantee an art degree would have made me a successful artist anymore than being self taught!

My name is Erika. said...

Your faces always give me an end of the week smile Giggles. I am loving the faces you based on Sal. They all have such personality. And Margie looks like she is saying "hey Girl" Great seeing your flashback photo too. It is amazing how kids grow up so fast and how time flies by. I was thinking about that the other day when school started here. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy PF. Hugs-Erika

sirkkis said...

Stunning expressive characters all ‼
Happy PPF ☺

Sarah Leonard said...

Love the smiles so much! I also love the little owls too :)

Linda Kunsman said...

what an absolute pleasure to come here each week to see so much fabulous art along with such thoughtful and thought provoking posts dear Sherrie! Love all the vibrant faces -and the white strips one had me really giggling:) I can't say that I "knew" I was an artist in early life but most of my pastimes was spent with one of my childhood girlfriends in her attic drawing in pencil-mostly animals. I grew and expanded on my own -because it was in my soul-and nobody was going to take that away from me. Thanks for sharing your beautiful art, and soul too. Happy PPF!

Granny Annie said...

It is totally appropriate the "giggles" should have so many smiles. Love your work, your messages and just love you for your kind support of my work.

Katie Jeanne said...

First off, your faces made me so incredibly happy..I busted out a HUGE smile the second I saw those happy little people. Then reading your words, I found myself nodding quite a bit. I have to say I'm shocked that you didn't/don't like science, tho. I think of myself as a scientist everyday, always experimenting, and mixing up new formulas (paint) in my lab. I read every science article I can get my hands on, still today. My husband always laughs at what a nerd I am because I'm always telling him about my new discoveries. lol

But, I hear you when it comes to math..and to think my son is a genius when it comes to the subject. He gets it from my mother, who was also brilliant in math. I still add on my fingers most of the time. I always say, put a dollar sign in front of the numbers, and I'll figure the math problem out just fine, tho. haha For some reason, I did very well in geometry..I think I saw the shapes as artsy, but algebra..forget it!!! I was lucky to pass with a D in college..can't believe they let me through with that grade, but they did.

I always knew I was into the arts, but it's been in the last 15+ years that I've settled into painting. I feel like I've done it all..music, writing, photography, and now painting. Each one has been a chapter in my life. I'm hoping the painting chapter never ends.

Susan said...

Sherrie, these are wonderful faces, big smiles, great expression. Love them all. I marched to my parent's, teacher's, whomever's drum but I was always a bit naughty in the process. Now my challenge is being creative, not correct. Happy PPF!

Dea Lenihan said...

Such happy faces! I love the owl! xo

Silke Powers said...

What a great post!! I never felt that I fit in, although I did manage to do just that. I was always good at math and numbers, I loved the sciences, I was good at languages, music and pretty much everything - except art! But nothing really, truly made my heart sing until I discovered art at the age of 43. As a kid I was told I had no talent and so I never tried. My husband is an artist and was all his life, and while I loved his art, I never thought I could do anything myself. Until I suddenly had the impulse and my life has never been the same! Art has opened me up in every way to everything. It is making me look at the world differently.
Now, speaking of art - your paintings! I LOVE them! Those teeth are wonderful! Those smiles contagious. And your colors just make me all kinds of happy!
Thanks for being you!! xoxo Silke

Gillena Cox said...

'Gayla' is my favourite, luv her expression
Happy PPF

much love...

SLScheibe said...

Love, love, love the art! It's so good! So smiling and so happy and so bright and colourful. Smiles make me giggle, lol. I always loved to draw as a kid and took art throughout high school but I put that side away myself (doh!) and didn't come back to it until I was about 30. Business jobs crushed me but I finally broke free. Joy and bliss, YES! Cheers to all of those who find their creative side - whenever they find it! :)

Irene Rafael said...

I love how you express yourself with words and with your art. I so identified with your description. It took me decades to accept and find like minded souls but I succeeded. Thank you so much for your heart felt posting this week.

Christine said...

fun characters today, nice thoughtful post as usual. I remember drawing all the time as a young girl, did a lot of faces.

Robin said...

What a great post! I think we are twins separated at birth. I can identify so well with your entire post, even with leaving home at a young age. I would imagine that probably most of the bloggers out here would understand, I think? As for your artwork, as always it is so cool. I love the way you create and the fun colors you use. Your posts are always so good! Happy PPF and have a Wonderful Week! Hugs, Rasz

Tammie Dickerson said...

I love your bright and vivid faces!! So full of life and spirit! I was drawing and painting before kindergarten. I could always do it, and I took it for granted. Turns out that who I was in kindergarten is the REAL ME!! I found "my people" on my first plein air painting trip. I didn't even know I had people!! All those artists thought just like me! It was incredible - and so eye opening. It has been full steam ahead ever since :)

sharon said...

Your teeth made me giggle and then when I read your words, you were describing me! Although I did know I was into arts early on. I remember when I was doing my graphic design course at Polytechnic I frustrated my tutor, as he would say to me have you measured that? and I would look blankly at him and he would sigh and get the ruler out, and it was perfect every time! He just could not believe the eye alone could get it right, poor man! Did I say I love those teeth!

Anonymous said...

I, too, stepped into my "art" again after losing twins and then finding out how nearly impossible it would be to have kids. I didn't go directly into art out of school because it was impressed on me by a mom who raised four children without their deadbeat dad that I needed to be able to care for myself, always. I, too, wish I started my artistic life earlier, or not walked away from it at all. Loved your post.

Mona Pendleton said...

Wow Giggles! What an amazing post full of fantastic artwork and words! Love the variety of emotional faces. Your use of colorful is inspiring! Super cute photo of your cupcake ;) How time flies! Hope you have a great weekend! Happy PPF :)

Victoria said...

Hello fellow traveler, us daydreamers must stick together! Loved all that you shared,very touching.. thanks for the beautiful journey of your soul and spirit always! Gorgeous art, vibrant faces and beings full of beauty and life..and always a sparkle of magic!
Hugs
Happy PPF
Victoria

sheila 77 said...

First of all your header is tremendous. I want those purple spectacles and her maroon hair - colour and style. Love all the hair-styles, the paler blue one is my next favourite.
I laughed about hunting for your imperial measuring tape, I don't hunt for one - because I have so many of them. The best ones are the ones with centimetres on one side and inches on the other. I always convert to inches. Hate mail order catalogues which give lengths in inches. Who knows what length a 50 centimetre skirt is?
I especially like Carol and the owl. I think Carol has been here before in another guise, different clothes and hair, and she has such a lovely face.
Great post about creativity. I was creative in a very different way from now for a long time. It was not until I started blogging that it all changed. Blogging and our blogging friends are so precious.

Neesie said...

It's always a delight to visit your place because you always have great art... that goes without saying really... but you always write though provoking posts. I only created artwork at school and immediately dropped it until a few years ago! Why did I waste all of those years? I didn't realise that now I feel after all these years, that it's in my soul!
Oh my... maths left me cold and it still does. I don't even know my phone number and we've been back here over three years now!
xoxo

Neesie said...

Ooops forgot to say that's a gorgeous photo of cupcake :D

genie said...

Well, your smiles and big teeth have me smiling from ear to ear. What an impressive post. So many pieces of unique and lovely art pieces. You must have such fun creating these. I started drawing in the 4th grade. My parents sent me to a private art teacher who taught me to draw pastel still lives. I was always doodling...and I did not fit in because I marched to my own drummer. I was always bouncy, happy, and laughing. From an early age I decided I was going to love my life just as it was. That has been the story of my life. I picked my art back up when my back got so bad I could no longer sit qt the sewing machine to sew and make my quilts. That was 2 years ago. It is so therapeutic. I forget my pain and my worries the entire time I am at my little art table my hubby bought for me.

artbyjune said...

Love the variety of faces! I loved creative pursuits when in primary school, became a scientist during high school..but biology so not hard core science...and finally returned to arts in adulthood! So both sides of the fence for me! I prefer arts!

denthe said...

Love the big smiles in your faces this week, even the ones with yellow teeth ;-) Especially Lou-Anne, that little pink tongue is so cute. I've always known I was creative, but I never felt like an artist. Even now I often have trouble calling myself an artist ....

Jenn Jilks said...

You have such fun with these!!!!

Ileana said...

Carol, Face 8, is my favorite...such a sweet and thoughtful expression. All your faces have character, color and creativity making them so interesting. I'll be back soon!

Misty said...

What a wonderful post!!! Other creative souls can relate instantly to what you are saying...!! Yes, I did art at a young age until it didn't fit the mold of what other people considered art. I was a closet artist for many many many years until I met some incredible supportive people that lured me out. So happy to see you letting your creative spirit shine!!!

NatureFootstep said...

wow, amazing work :) So many with happy expressions on the faces :) We need that!

Lisabella Russo said...

What a lovely and thoughtful post! I love your purple owl and how sweet Cupcake looks.

Indira said...

I love all the faces with their big grin. Your essay is powerful. I had artistic inclinations as a child but never considered becoming an artist.

JKW said...

The faces are as powerful as your words. By age 12 I entered a contest and they thought I was good enough to enroll in their art classes. It was a ruse and I didn't have the money to do that, but it gave me the encouragement I needed to go on with it. I wanted to design clothes. . .never did, but I did design and make the Cloth dolls and their clothes, so I guess I did that dream too. Your dad looks a lot like my late husband. Blessings, Janet

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