When I Grow Up…

Everyone has a few dreams that seem out of reach but that they still strive for. Obviously one of mine is writing–I would love to be an author who entertains people. (As opposed to an author who only entertains herself, which I already am.)

I have a few that are slightly less attainable. I will never sing on Broadway, even if I do have five or six different musicals memorized from start to finish. (And really, I promise all of you: this is a good thing.) I will never chase hurricanes and tornadoes. (At least, not while my husband begs me not to.)

And until recently, I thought, “I will never be an artist.”

That one hurt, because man I wanted to be one. My mother is an artist, and I grew up running amock in the art school she ran during the summers. I learned how to airbrush and batique. I learned how to build sculptures and develop photographs. I made art with paint, pencils, pens, wood, shells, hot glue, wax, yarn…you name it, I tried it.

And, generally speaking, I sort of sucked at it.

In 1998 someone gave me my first copy of Photoshop. It barely ran on my computer, but I loved it and cuddled it close to me. “Here,” I thought. “This is what I need. I am great with computers! I will make art!”

So I did. And, generally speaking, I continued to suck at it.

The thing is, I didn’t quit. I kept going. I kept trying to make art, because it was a soothing break from my other activities. Unlike coding and writing, it was something I did just for me.

And then I turned around a few weeks ago and realized…hey. I’m not so bad at this anymore. True, I’m not exactly stiff competition for the real artists out there, but I am getting to the point where I can make stuff that sort of works.

I’ve even included my latest work, a cover for a free story that will exist some day in the near future. Not so bad, if I do say so myself. Not for someone who started off incapable of correctly proportioned stick-figures.

Which just goes to show…practice anything for ten years, and you just might get there.

Except Broadway. I love you all far too much for that.