An Introduction, Part 4

Ok, so here it was, graduation time. So what did I graduate with a degree in? Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. Yeah, I know, accounting is about as far away from art as Pluto is from the sun, but it had to be done. At the time, I had been in college so long, I just needed to graduate, whatever the major. Funds, choices, and stamina had all run out. And, well, accounting was a practical major, right? Every company in the world needs an accountant so there would be no problem finding a job.

Well, before I graduated I'd already had a job lined up working in an accounts payable department for a well-known and very large healthcare firm. Couldn't be too bad, right? Math is, ummm, somewhat interesting. I kind of liked studying it in school. It should be all right ....

OMG, the accounts payable job was about as exciting as watching paint dry. No, actually, that's not true. If the paint were on a piece of art it would have been far more interesting to watch the paint dry! (For all you who work in accounts payable, I feel for you, and I'm sorry!)

Shortly after graduation and the new job my sister gave me a graduation card. In the card was a gift certificate to a local art supply store. It was kind of a surprise to me. I'd been so busy with classes, a part-time job, and studying that I hadn't even thought about art in a while. There'd simply been no time for it. Within the card was a note that said, "Maybe now you'll have time to express your true self."

After reading that I actually cried.

But it changed my life....

(continued in part 5)

Art on my Wall!

Yesterday I got the Dino Paravano print (see May 19 post below) I ordered and hung it up last night. So nice to see some wildlife art on the walls finally.

Next I'm determined to get a Leon Parson print. One of my favorites of his is, unfortunately, all sold out. I'll have to find a new favorite among the availables. Here's the one I wish I could have. I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here. I really wanted to share some of his beautiful work. I just love the way he uses color. He has every color of the rainbow in there yet it doesn't look gaudy or chaotic in the least. Somehow he keeps the colors harmonious and soothing. Amazing, in my opinion.



Check out his web site to see his other works: http://www.leonparson.com/

An Introduction, Part 3

Well this is starting to look more like a biography than an introduction.

So, last time I left off with that nasty word "reality." That meant thinking about what I was going to do for a long term career. It was time for college and I had to start thinking about what I was going to study. Strangely enough, art was not one of the majors I was considering. My father, as much as he liked art and nature, was always very negative about the prospects of earning a living doing art. The only artists are starving ones, you know. On top of the belief that all artists are starving my father also believed life was not about doing what you want to do, only about doing what you had to do. He even told me once that if I was having fun I was doing something wrong. Eek! (He grew up in New England during the depression years so I suppose it was the whole Puritan work ethic thing.) Consequently, I must have been convinced from an early age not to consider art as a possible college major because the thought of studying art actually never even occurred to me during my college years. Wierd, huh?

Unfortunately, when you remove someone's true love from the list of options there is nowhere to go. I ended up bouncing around from one major to another like a ball in a pachinko machine because I could find nothing that I truly wanted to make a career out of. This meant I also spent way too many years in college, but I won't bore you with all the details of those long years or the subjects I studied. I'll just jump ahead to graduation and the one thing that someone said that changed my life.... (continued in Part 4)

An Introduction, Part 2

Ok, so where'd I leave off? Oh, yeah, Walt Disney. What does Walt Disney have to do with my interest in wildlife art? Well, I don't remember exactly what age I was when my parents first took me to see Walt Disney's Bambi but I was very young. But even at a very young age the struggles of the young deer, and the beauty of Tyrus Wong's art, struck me. After that, deer became my favorite subject to draw, especially Bambi and his friends. For a long time wanted to draw almost nothing but deer. This led to a fondness of other hoofed animals as well ... elk, moose, antelope, giraffes, horses ... I drew them all.

As I got a little older and my father took me horse back riding more and more I started drawing horses more then deer. I fell in love with horses and when I was 13 years old my father finally caved from all my begging and pleading and bought me my first horse. That was it. That's all I cared about for the next decade, horses! I no doubt drew a gazillion pictures of horses during that time.

Eventually, however, I started to outgrow horses. I'm not sure why but somewhere in my 20's I turned back to nature and wildlife. I started spending more time out in nature again, hiking and camping and traveling the scenic routes of California and visiting national parks throughout the west. I took classes on wild edibles, native flora and fauna, and wilderness survival. Deer and other wildlife once again became a favorite art subject. I started to dream of doing art for a living. But then reality set in.... (More in Part 3)

I Need Art

I have no art on my walls in my home. Isn't that odd for an artist to have no art? I really need to buy some. I've looked a few times but I never buy any. The problem is there is so much beautiful art out there I can never decide which to get. If I buy this picture will I regret not buying that other one?

Actually, I did manage to buy one print very recently, a picture of a family of lions by Dino Paravano. I've sort of been into monochromatic color schemes lately and I've always liked backlighting so this one caught my attention: Pride's Proud Family

Still, that's only one picture. I have many more walls to fill. Friends have told me to hang my own artwork on my walls. But I can't bring myself to do that. It seems too vain, conceited, egotistical, or something like that. What do you think?

An Introduction, Part 1

Ok, so who am I? And why am I starting a blog?

The first question I can answer ... maybe. LOL Well, at least I can tell you who I think I am, but whether or not I really know who I am has yet to be determined. :)

As for the second question, I can definitely say I have no idea. It's just a place to put down my thoughts, I suppose. I've tried keeping a regular journal in a physical book but, although I start it with enthusiasm, I never keep going with it for long. Maybe knowing someone might read this will motivate me to keep writing. Maybe not. Will you be the one who is disappointed? Or will I?

Ok, so back to the first question. This is who I think I am:

I am an artist. I am an animal lover. I am a nature lover. Specifically, I am a wildlife artist.

I was born in southern California, the daughter of a landscape painter and draftsman. My father loved to paint landscapes and do caligraphy. You know, I've never asked him why or where he got that from. Weird. In any case, I'm sure I picked up some of my artistic interest from him. As far back as I can remember I liked to draw, color, and paint. I drew so much that my parents couldn't keep enough paper in the house. I drew on practically any and every flat surface...well, that didn't get me grounded. My father, whose day job was that of a draftsman, often brought home huge stacks of used computer printer paper from his work for me to draw on the back of. This was in the days when computer printouts were on huge strips of perforated paper with holes along the sides for the printer feed, so the stacks could be quite large. (Yeah, you know I'm old now!) I had a voracious appetite for drawing and coloring and would make quick work of it. But it was the only way he could keep me from resorting to drawing on less desirable surfaces, like walls and tables.

My father was also a nature lover. One of his favorite shows to watch was Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, which I often watched with him. (Oh my! Now you really know how old I am!) He also enjoyed camping, fishing, hiking, and horse-back riding and often took me with him on such weekend outings.

As for the animal lover in me, well, that probably came from having so many pets. My father, despite being a nature lover, didn't actually like pets. My mother, however, loved them and wanted to rescue every abandoned animal in the world! At one point I think we had 13 cats, 5 dogs, a duck, a snake, and a turtle. And, I lived in a small suburban house, not a farm, so that was one crowded home!

This exposure to a combination to art, animals, and nature from an early age makes it seem only natural that wildlife art became one of my passions.

I had a little help from Walt Disney too.... (More on that in Part 2)

Well it's time to jump on the bandwagon.

I guess I'm behind the times being without a blog. So here's my first step in catching up.