The Old Stuff

I was always an artist---not with words, but with colors and shapes. I mostly used acrylics or oils, but also enjoyed charcoal for it's shocking contrast to the white page.

I don't say "always an artist" with a sense of accomplishment or pride...more like "that was my thing." It's what I liked to do more than anything else. This painting of three colorful horses is my reproduction of another artist's work. I loved it because they were obviously depicting three different stages in the life of a woman, and did it using unconventional colors. Or maybe three stages in my life. I see myself as the strong, confident horse in the back, having left exciting, fun youth and child-bearing (sad but peaceful) years behind.

After having an autistic son, a mini-me daughter, and managing a family for 20 years, I have trained myself to use other parts of my brain. Finding time---or making time to access the creative artsy side and paint or draw has been almost impossible. What has emerged, however, with all this planning and raising and teaching and advocating is love of word-arranging. Like you would arrange a half dozen types of flowers into one vase, or choose colors to make a room pop, I now like to arrange words in ways that make you stop and think.