Dabbling and Work

I enjoy working and have worked most of my life, admittedly not liking all jobs. Having left college after one year to marry a bad boy by way of running away from home (oy) my career as an artist was put on hold. The subsequent birth of my first daughter 14 months later and the birth of my second daughter 14 months after that, made up for the the bad boy but kept me too busy to concentrate on art.

In time, after said boy had had a few girlfriends, I smartened up and sent him packing. I was now alone with two small girls, no skills (art seldom pays the bills) and little knowledge of how to survive. Sans a career, I took on jobs and did everything from babysitting, to working key punch, to helping run a stable, to retail sales, to wood working, to...well, you get the idea.

To make ends meet I painted the occasional mural, sold the occasional painting, made signs and cut hair. Life moved on, jobs came and went and my beautiful daughters grew up to be amazing women.

Work still took up much of my life but I now had time to focus on the work I loved most, my art. My career began to take shape as my artwork was accepted in shows and I was commissioned for paintings and drawings. It was a quiet career but enormously satisfying since I am happiest and most fulfilled when I am creating.

With the onset of ALS everything changed and I was terribly lost. The obvious aside, I was devastated by what seemed to be the loss of my ability to express my artistic visions. My mind, filled with images, color, light and emotion with no way to express all I saw and felt, refused to accept this finality.

I had been trying to learn to use the computer as a new tool and aid and realized that I would now have to rely, totally, on this daunting technology (I am fairly new to the world of computers) if I wished to continue with my art. I have a lot to learn still, but am pleased with the results up to this point and am very happy that my "mind trips" were not forever silenced.

My dearest friend, Lolly, a fine artist in her own right, suggested that I take my computer dabbling and start a line of greeting cards. With her help with cutting and assembling, I am going to use my computer art to do just that. It will feel good to get back to work, giving my days direction and purpose.