A Secret Artist

Previously on Needle Tatting and other Nonsense. You first learned the origin of TotusMel, the name. Next I shared my first dead dream, followed by the origin of my hair color and how I met my husband. Then you got the painful story of my first tattoos. We are now back at the time in the week, yes I know it changes every week, where I answer a question no one actually asked. Though if you actually want a question answered, I'd be glad to do so. Anyway on to the question.

Do You Have Any Secret Talents?

I thought about this for a bit. I can whistle, so can most people. I can pick things up with my feet, not really interesting enough for an entire post. Then I got one. I used to think of myself as an artist. Yep, far before I was a tatting madwoman, I held a pen to paper and created. Way back in high school, the same time I fancied myself a poet (another time), I started making black and white images. I did this off and on until my first child was born and creation on paper became increasingly difficult. I've done all sorts of pieces as I found one day I could draw a portrait and the next I couldn't seem to draw a stick figure. I settled best into a style I don't know the name for.

I never took any classes and since I'm surrounded by really talented artists I never really took very seriously. My brothers are insanely skilled artists, my grandmother was an incredible painter and I always seemed to hang out with artistic types that made whatever I did look like a fourth grader did it. I did enter my art in the county fair, yeah I know, several times and even won a few ribbons and like ten dollars. I remember the first time I did it, I thought that I was going to get offers to buy the pieces and I was shocked when none came.

I ended up giving one of the winning pieces to the head of the fair, she was the mother of a good friend. and since then, I have given away almost everything I've ever drawn. They've been birthday presents, Christmas presents and oh, you like that, you can have it, presents. My family and friends own almost all my art and I see it when I visit their homes. Though I'm convinced that it's displayed out of a sense of obligation rather than some intense love of my talent.I did dig out some pieces left around the house because I knew I couldn't do a post like this without a little proof. The small ones are the few left from back in high school. The larger pieces are much more rounded than most of my other pieces, but they are all that is left in my possession. I'm certain that I will one day day pick up a pen again and make art. I doubt I'll ever try to sell it though. I'll just keep raining it down on my relatives as cheap gifts or giving it away to anyone that tells me they like it.