Since the second grade I have wanted to be an artist. I had skill but I wanted to improve it through art classes at the college level. Life happened and I wasn't able to take classes until my late forties. Now I paint, draw, ink, etch, illustrate, carve or work pottery every day. Mostly painting and drawing. While I believe I am still acquiring skills, I have won numerous awards for paintings in different shows. I integrate my art practice into life now, writing illustrated letters to my grandchildren and have some wonderful murals planned for inside my house. Although my idea to render the bathroom walls as a cloudscape had my children telling me they would be thinking "Look out below!" while using the room.
A teacher once told me we had to do about 500 paintings to "get good." And she had us working up portraits to completion in 4-hour classes. So from her I learned to work fast and finish what I started. We should paint a lot, see what we love to paint and discover thence our style and themes. Having done that, I find I do paint many portraits, waterscapes and cloudscapes.
Lotus Bud
