Color the World

Growing up I soaked up the times when my mom, Amy, (who was an exceptional artist), would let me sit in her basement studio and watch her work on her marvelous creations.

Often these creations were made as gifts for family and friends and they looked forward to receiving them just as much and I looked forward to watching her create them. She made quilts, stained glass, paintings, intricate wood crafts, mosaics and more. There really were no limits to her creativity and it just flowed from her naturally. I was always envious of how easy it was for her to obtain new skills. It was such a treat to spend time with her when she was working on her projects.

The smell of paint, touching different textures of fabrics and furs, drawing, looking through glass and working with various woods are just some things I have found as an adult that now ground me and spark my own creativity. I have my mom to thank for this.

“There are no mistakes in art. Only those who choose to see them, will find them.” This is something my mom taught me to help me see beauty in all creations.

This lesson has helped me use broken items like pottery and glass or fragments of paper from a painting that didn’t measure up to my standards to create unexpected art work. Some of my favorite pieces have come from things I didn’t like at first. Cutting up a painting and using it as bookmarks or turning my favorite dish into a mosaic after its been dropped are things I’ve done that have given a little life back to things that I once would have just discarded.

I am under no illusion that all of my artwork is great or that others will love it, but I do enjoy the fact that a little piece of who I am is in every piece and the ones that are loved are even more special. It feels great to look at a painting that was once just a blank sheet of paper and see my imagination come to life with color and creativity.

My Mom’s pink craft scissors and imagination are all it takes for me to turn something once thought unusable or undesirable into something useful and beautiful. When I am going through a hard time or need to relax, I have found that expressing myself through art is the most therapeutic approach to a better mindset and sense of purpose and accomplishment.

When creating art, I try to help others see value where it is not apparent or popular and to bring life to the ordinary. Everyday objects, items and topics can easily be turned into something magical with if you give yourself creative license. The easiest way I’ve found to get ideas out is using my favorite pens, scissors, and collection of special papers to create doodles and cut cards of ideas to come back to. Sometimes the idea may be there but the time may not be…never pass up a good idea, even if you have to jot it down on a napkin.

I have found that using colors in situations where you wouldn’t normally see them tends to spark that childhood excitement and interest in everyday things. I hope to color in the edges of my world with unexpected and vibrant color. Children’s books are colorful and filled with imagination and I’m not sure why or how, but it seems at some point in our lives, we replace color and imagination with black and white ink and sensibility. I think the world needs a little more color and imagination. After all, growing up is completely overrated.

My mom has been gone a long time. But still, each time I run her pink scissors through paper or fabric, use paint and other mediums to put my imagination to use- I am brought back to my childhood, in her basement studio and I once again feel like I have something to give. Something to offer. And something to create. My friends and family now look forward to the things I make and it brings me great joy to share my creations with them.

What a treasure it is to make someone happy with a gift of your own creation.