My Artist Story — I Didn’t Know That I Was an Artist
I took a long way around.
As a little girl, I enjoyed coloring and drawing, in fact, I enjoyed any artistic activity. I remember times in daycare and summer camp when we got to play with glue and make all sorts of different and fun items. My mom says that if I had a coloring book in hand, I would sit quietly and color all day if I had to.
It seems obvious looking back, that I would someday be an artist, but it certainly wasn’t obvious then, and in fact, my journey to becoming an artist is not your typical artist story.
I didn’t know that I was an artist.
Later on, as I went to art classes in junior high school, I found myself mostly hating it. They always wanted me to draw specific things, or work on specific projects, but I never felt like I could do what they wanted. I enjoyed doodling, not drawing things. In fact, I had told myself over and over that I couldn’t draw things.
I had decided that I wasn’t an artist and I stubbornly refused to even try.
I would, however, doodle all over my school books, and my favorite was the phone book. I would spend hours talking on the phone with my girlfriends, all the time scribbling and doodling so much on the cover of the phone book that it would become threadbare and falling apart. My mom would curse me over and over about it, but I couldn’t help it. Each and every time we would get a new phone book, she would threaten me to not draw on it.
But it never worked.
I remember one day in art class very clearly when our art teacher told us that there was no set agenda for the class, and we could create anything that we wanted! She put out boxes of pens and crayons, papers, and pieces of wallpaper. I was like a kid in a candy store! I was free!
I quickly got busy cutting and gluing and coloring ferociously. I came up with a crazy abstract design (see photo above), handed it in, then forgot all about it. I didn’t know what it was, but I created it. Unbeknownst to me, she sent my piece off with a bunch of others from our class and submitted it to be shown at the Canadian National Exhibition later that summer. Much to my, and my parents, surprise, my piece got accepted for display. The catch was that I didn’t know what she had sent, and I couldn’t imagine that I had created anything good enough to be on display somewhere.
That summer dad insisted that we take a trip to Toronto to find this piece of art. We all needed to know what the heck I had made that was good enough for display on a national level.
I still remember rounding the corner and seeing it at the end of the room. “There it is!” I yelled.
“That’s it!” My Dad gasped. “What is it?”
I was horrified that I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t know what it was. How embarrassing. “I don’t know.” I quietly murmured. Of course, what I know now, that I didn’t know then, is that it was art.
Sadly, any desires that may have pointed me to being an artist at that time, were left behind that day in Toronto.
Fast forward 20 years!
In 2006, at the age of 30, I moved to a new town and started a new life. But little did I know just how different this new life would be!
In the first week of arriving there, I was in the recreation center and noticed a poster on the wall. It was for adult pottery classes!
One of the highlights of my time in that same art class of my youth is a section we did on working with clay. We only got a basic introduction, but it must have triggered my curiosity, as I would ask my mom if there were pottery classes every year that the new calendar would come out at the community center. She always insisted that there were no pottery classes for kids, so instead, I was enrolled in Gymnastics, Figure Skating, and Swimming Classes
But now, here I was! ‘Hey, I’m an adult! I can do a pottery class finally!’ I thought to myself!
It was something that I had completely forgotten about wanting to do until I saw that poster. I immediately called the lady, Velma, and told her that I wanted to enroll. Her response was not what I was expecting, as she claimed that the class was full. But I was not to be deterred that easily.
I relayed the story to her about wanting to take pottery classes as a child, and that I really, really REALLY wanted to take this class! She could sense the desperation in my voice and told me that there actually was one person who hadn’t totally committed, so she was going to check with them to see if they were going to commit, and if they didn’t she would call me back.
Sure enough, Velma called me back and I was enrolled to start the following week! I was ecstatic! I never had a clue how much my life was about to change, and Velma certainly had no idea that she was about to become my artistic mentor. I was about to embark on a wild ride through the art world and the life I knew at that moment, was about to become drastically different.
It was a lightning bolt moment!
As I sat with the clay in my hands at that first pottery class, I had a sudden realization that I could literally sculpt ANYTHING out of that clay. In this split-second moment, it felt like the whole right side of my brain literally burst out the side of my head! My mind was flooded with a thousand ideas of what I wanted to make, I instantly bonded with that clay, and I was hooked!
My life flashed before my eyes, and I knew at that moment that it would never look the same as it had before that fateful night.
While clay was my primary focus for a while, the discovery of my creative side, also sent me on an absolutely wild ride through immense exploration by trying any medium that I could get my hands on. In the following 6 years, I took a stained-glass class, bought equipment for that, started making jewelry, learned how to fuse glass, started drawing and doodling again, and experimented with painting, polymer clay, digital art design, and anything else that I could get my hands on.
In fact, I created so many things, that I decided that I needed a venue to sell it all in. This led me to partner with another local artist from my town, and we opened an art gallery that eventually sold art from over 80 local artists, plus we had our own studios on site. Through my ownership of that business, I learned a lot more about the art world.
Unfortunately, the business only lasted 4 years, but the lessons that I learned by running it, will be with me for a lifetime.
I wish I was creative!
Over the course of my time in the shop, I heard the above sentiment daily, or sometimes, multiple times per day. Many customers would walk in and look around and would just let out a huge sigh and declare
“I wish I was creative.”
They loved everything that they looked at, but they had already decided that they couldn’t make any of it. I couldn’t help but wonder, each and every time if they had even tried.
So many of us have creative blocks. Many of them stem from our childhoods. From a time beyond our memories when we were told that we couldn’t do it. At some point or another, we were discouraged.
Maybe we were told that art is for kids.
Our childlike thirst for artistic exploration was overshadowed by society telling us that we need to get a ‘real’ job. We all know the term ‘starving artist’ and in our money-hungry society, many of us were raised with the impression that being an artist is the last thing you want to do with your life!
However, I am here to tell you that it is NEVER too late to get back to your art. Take a pottery class as I did, or attend the Wine and Paint nights that are popping up around the world. Just try something……..anything! Let your creativity out because I can assure you that, no matter what, it will make you smile. And I can bet that you will probably surprise even yourself with what you come up with.
Today I paint murals!
14 years after taking that fateful pottery class, I am now traveling the world full time with my partner, and our creativity is carrying us along the way. We have become full-time artists, and not only do we make our own art, but we are now also creating art for others by painting murals in places that we visit.
I’ll tell you a secret though, I never really knew how to paint murals.
Back in Costa Rica, early in July 2018, we were asked to paint a mural for the owner of the hostel that we were staying at. Although neither of us had had much experience with paint, per se, we decided to give it a shot. Chris is a tattoo artist, and can literally draw anything, and I had studied and watched my friends paint for years, so I figured we could do it. And guess what, we pulled it off!
It was a challenge for sure, we made mistakes, but we learned along the way. We went for it and I can tell you with 100% authority, that we surprised even ourselves with what we created.
In the end, we got 10 nights of free accommodation out of the deal, which was our agreement when we started, but it took us 20 days to complete!
If I can do it so can you!
For a few years now, I have had a nagging feeling that I want to inspire others to be creative. I want to help you to find your inner child, to let out those things that you have bottled up for too many years. Because I have another secret………..WE ARE ALL CREATIVE!
We never take the time to consider the simple tasks that we do in life as being creative. For example:
*How you do your hair is creative.
*How you design your house is creative.
*How you make your bed is creative.
*How you make food is creative.
Literally, everything we do in life stems from some form of creativity. Each and every one of us express ourselves differently in this world.
This IS creativity!
Just because we don’t “think” we can put pen to paper and draw something, doesn’t mean that we aren’t creative.
Just because somebody draws something better than you do, doesn’t mean that you are not creative.
Each and every one of us is creative in our own ways, and each and every one of us express ourselves differently! This is the miracle of art. It doesn’t matter what it is that you create, it is your expression, and that is what makes it beautiful and unique.
So what are you waiting for?
Sign up for an art class, go buy a pen and some paper, and just get started. Don’t worry about what anyone thinks, because whatever they are thinking, is none of your business.
Your business is to express your creativity in whatever manner that works for you.
I know you will smile, and I know you will love it. So go and get busy! Get started! Show the world what you are made of, because if you don’t, nobody else can do it for you!
If you wish to join my new publication, please click the link below! Consider sharing our artist story so we can learn about how you became creative as well!
Happy Creating! xo Jill
Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We have now been on the African continent for over 2 years! Join our adventure by hitting the links below! Subscribe to Medium to get full access to my writing plus thousands of others’!
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