Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Thursday, November 12, 2015

Un-Artistic

Artistic: fourth from the right, top row.
Un-artistic: fourth from the right, second row.
Grade three art class.
So much fun with so many things artistic.
None of them me.
I’m not sure, but I think when artistic ability was handed out in Heaven, I was outside.
Doing something else.
Or if I was there, my ability was poured in with a teaspoon and someone jiggled Heavenly Father’s elbow.
Moving on . . .
Others in my class were gifted with a bit more.
Quite a bit more.
One boy in particular was amazing.
And it was to Randy that I looked whenever a new assignment was handed out.
He never let me down.
We were in grade three, and had been given large pieces of paper and paints and instructed to paint a tree, I immediately turned to see what he did.
And how he did it.
He started with a graceful, fluid line of brown from the bottom of the page to the top.
I dipped my brush in my brown paint.
And made a streak.
That’s all. A streak. Heavy. Clumsy.
And distinctly un-graceful.
Sigh.
I tried to fix it.
It became an ungraceful streak that . . . thickened.
My teacher asked me, kindly, if I’d like to start again. I received my new piece of paper with relief bordering on giddiness.
And proceeded to do the same thing.
Oh, I did produce a tree.
But I had to label it so others would know.
Another time, we were given pictures to colour with our new pressed-wax crayons, and I fared better.
Again, I craned my neck to see what Randy would do.
His Santa picture was coloured heavily, completely filling in the spaces.
No white specks showing at all.
I tried to copy his technique.
But without his results.
Oh, I managed to stay within the lines. And it even turned out . . . acceptable.
But it just didn’t have the flare – the snap – that Randy’s did.
But I was nothing, if not persistent.
Every picture from then on was coloured with great intent. A lot of crayon.
And Randy’s technique.
But with equally disappointing results.
Then, a few months later, Randy changed things up.
For this newest colouring project, he outlined each space heavily, then proceeded to fill in lightly.
I could almost feel my mother’s relief as requests for new boxes of crayons . . . diminished. In fact, I think my current box and Randy’s new method actually lasted me through the end of the year.
Progress!
I kept on trying. And sometimes, was actually satisfied with my efforts.
But, by the end of grade three, I had realized something.
When it comes to things artistic:
Some do.
Others appreciate.
I’m definitely in the second category.
And I’m happy there.

14 comments:

  1. Naw, your artistic ability comes out in words that do almost a better job of describing a picture than the actual picture! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! You did it just issno interesting. I liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Caitlin is right - there's more than one kind of artistic talent. When's the last time you heard of a good story written by Picasso or DaVinci or Michaelangelo ... yet you write excellent ones on a daily basis, which I, for one, could not do but truly appreciate ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jenny! Why do we never see ourselves as having talents? Only everyone else! :)

      Delete
  4. I am another appreciator here. And love your word artistry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This from the woman who writes stories and poems, bakes pies and sews pajamas. I think you got your fair share of creativity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Delores! Funny. One never looks at the things one does as creative. I guess that's why we all need our friends. To keep it real when we get too full of ourselves and to point good things out when we most need it! :)

      Delete
  6. I'm the appreciative sort too. Although I can draw a recognisable tree now, it took me years to progress from the brown-stick-green-lollipop-head style.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are my new hero, River! I would SO love to be able to draw!!!

      Delete
  7. P.S. I agree with what they ^ all said about your creative ability. You're a pretty fancy wordsmith for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Funny how I never have recognized that as artistic ability! :)

      Delete
  8. I struggle with stick people. I've always been envious of people who create art!

    ReplyDelete

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