I have always been drawn to making things, forever inquisitive about the “how” and with any inkling of success, I surge forward with a “can do” attitude. Needless to say, I have tried many many things that most people including myself would consider hobbies. Sometimes I have succeeded in making whatever it was that caught my fancy, sometimes goals have remained partially completed and sometimes after several disappointments, I have given up.
A few things that come to mind right away are macrame, embroidery, needlepoint, latch hooking, beading/jewelry making, crochet, knitting, candle-making, journaling, calligraphy, writing stories, and others I’ve probably forgotten about. I could show you the results of some of these joyous adventures if you visited my home. And at times when I’m at a loss for something to do, I’ll pick up one of these hobbies again.
But the one hobby that remains constant in my life is art, especially drawing and watercolor painting. I might go for a few days without picking up a pencil or brush, but I always come back to it. It is the one pastime that gives me the most joy and with all the tutorials on YouTube, I am never lacking for inspiration. The closest I’ve ever come to structured study is a couple of community college classes, but I am one of those people who need to draw or paint alone with no one watching, no one around so class-taking is not high on my list of things to do.
Around 2012 or 2013, I met an artist named Terri Regotti. We were attending a Writers Alliance of Gainesville Sunday program and were introduced to each other when both of us inquired about critique groups for writers. We went on to attend some group meetings and eventually formed our own group, both of us novice writers. But Terri was an artist, and I’m sure my heart did a little flip flop the moment I discovered that. We became friends.
Terri taught a Community College art class, and with some encouragement, I signed up. It was enjoyable, and I learned some new things (painting on glass, how to make a portrait more lifelike, and scratchboards). The painting on glass did not speak to me but portraits were a lifelong interest. And scratchboard caught my attention as well. I ended up making a pretty cool dragonfly which I gifted to my granddaughter one year.
I was already working on a portrait and with my new knowledge, I continued to work on that in class. I drew from a copy of a picture of Edgar Allan Poe, and to my delight, when completed, Terri thought it good enough to include in a gallery show she was curating for her class. I was excited and even sent out email invitations to the opening reception. We had a large turnout with the normal fare of finger foods and drinks. Sadly, Edgar was not as interesting to others as I had hoped, and at the end of the exhibit, I took him back home. But the experience was one I will never forget, and I’ll always be indebted to Terri for her graciousness and extensive knowledge of art that she so readily shared with me.
A few years later Terri moved to Oregon and we lost touch, but I’ve never forgotten her and her kindnesses. In her kitchen high above the cabinets hung canvases she had painted of kitchen veggies. I particularly remember the gorgeous artichoke. And on her living room wall there was a beautiful collage of broken things titled Repurposed. She introduced me to the Repurpose Project which now resides near Satchel’s Pizza place. She made me two tiny Christmas trees from uncooked macaroni, unbelievably beautiful and unique. I put them out every Christmas. And there was a wooden chair in her home painted in a crazy geometrical design with all the colors of the rainbow. And a huge magnolia blossom, a work in progress, on an easel upstairs destined for the Oak Hammock Art Show. Terri was the real thing.
Because of Terri’s encouragement, I painted canvases two years for the Annual Auction at the Harn Museum, both of flowers, one a poppy and one a cosmos. Happily, both were purchased. Sadly, the Harn stopped having the auctions.
Although I’ll never consider myself an artist, I will continue to make art as best I can. I must because it gives me so much joy.
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