Working Up My Nerve

There's a set of Prismacolor markers that I REALLY want. There are 256 markers in the set, and the best price is from Dick Blick. My income tax refund will be here next Friday (online filing, direct deposit), and after I pay the plumbing bill on my "other" house (the one I still own and need to sell), I'll have a little "mad" money to spend on art supplies. My mother taught us that money spent on art supplies is never wasted, and that we must have things to nourish our souls on a regular basis.

Last Saturday night, I went to the Prismacolor site to check out the names of the colors that I'm going to have in my hot little hands in about two weeks, and while there, I clicked on a button that encouraged me to enter some of my art work in a contest sponsored by Prismacolor. I thought about it for a little while, and then got my camera and photographed about thirty or forty of my drawings. I started drawing and "coloring" while DH was in the hospital last January and February; I carried my Marvy Uchida, Zig, and American Crafts markers with me to the hospital every day, and I had picked up a blank book with heavy paper at the dollar store. The process occupied my mind, and I could stop when a doctor or nurse came in to talk to us or do a procedure. I have always been a voracious reader, but I didn't seem to be able to concentrate on a book.

The drawing, coloring, and addition of pen and ink detail continued all through DH's hospitalization, and after his death, it became my lifeline during last summer. I couldn't afford to leave the house every day to shop, and I needed to make peace with being alone in the house during the summer (DH was retired, so we had spent our summers together for the past six years). I could afford to buy good art markers (Faber Castell Pitt pens and the Primacolor markers are my favorites) and watercolor paper, and I drew for several hours every day. My projects were also portable, so I could carry them with me when I made short trips to visit friends and relatives in a neighboring state.

I discovered wonderful frames at Hobby Lobby that just suited my pictures, and when they were on sale for half price, I stocked up. I framed about fifteen of my pictures and hung them throughout my house, and have gotten a great deal of pleasure from looking at them, and knowing that my mother the artist would be proud of me for displaying my artwork (even though she'd probably be a little bemused by my abstract geometric work). My sister picked out several to hang at her house, and my niece has also expressed interest.

The point to all of this is that I decided to enter the Prismacolor contest. I have no illusions about my work compared to other things that I've seen, but I'm proud of coming through last summer's time of grief with the help of my artwork. I once read a quote in Legacy Magazine (published by Somerset Studio, now called Somerset Memories) in which an author says that she's an artist because she says so. I like that approach; I am an artist because I say I am.

I ordered a copy of Somerset Studio's photography magazine (Life Images). After going through the magazine the first time (I go through all of my Somerset Studio publications NUMEROUS times!), I have begun to play with the idea of submitting some of my photographs to this magazine. I had a photograph published a couple of years ago (and ran into someone today who remembered the photo and asked about the accompanying story). I've already been going through my digital files and thinking about what I want to submit. My mother and husband would be so proud...and I am proud of myself for being so brave!