Celebrating Women Vol. 1

Teachers are important in the formation of an artist. Mrs. Saegert was my first art teacher. It’s funny how memories have a way of creeping back into your brain at the strangest moments. Driving down the road on a long trip or in the line at McDonald’s getting a happy meal for my granddaughter. Pop all of a sudden the purest, clearest memory will present itself. The smells will ride the coattails of a memory and before you know it you are almost there.

Slideshows of memories of a table in this big room filled with students. An antique dining table repurposed for the class. My arm had to reach to get a good angle to work on my drawing. I smell the eraser, crumbs falling, making a mess. All those elements that artists don’t really mind, I was ready to discover.

I was just six-years old, the youngest in my first class yet filled with an invisible confidence that carried me through. Little did I know then how influential Mrs. Saegert would be–a real artist who sparked creativity and inspired belief within me during those formative years of development which remain present even today as life’s roller coaster changes course unexpectedly; one of her paintings hangs proudly to this day in our family home!

Growing up with a family that was always encouraging in my art, I always had the art supplies, classes, doting parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents. My sister was music and I am art. Impractical at best at worst totally a waste of time, but the world is better for the artists. And by artists I include all those that appreciate and love the creation.

The very act of what I fondly call, “Making a Mess,” is in its nature creation of the highest order. Art speaks for itself; no longer do we need to consider if any type of creative expression is wasteful because ultimately it lifts our souls! There is something that draws a divine desire in all of us. A creativity bestowed upon us by our Creator. When at our best we do create what we might deem a perfect thing, God smiles. God’s smile is the ultimate reward!

Artfully yours,