Wow, wow, wow. Friends, this past weekend was so monumental for me! I am part of an art show at a local gallery and showing my art totally put things into perspective. It felt so right.
Growing up, I was always a little artistic; I used to draw + make dioramas quietly in my room– it was a way I could relax from the busy-ness of grade school + my large family. In 3rd grade I won the art contest for my drawing of “what my family means to me” (It was a drawing of us eating Sunday dinner together in the dining room and my dad still has it framed + hung there to this day).
I was always trying to figure out something new to try, artistically.
The creating continued in high school where I would collage with my buds on poster board on the weekends until three in the morning. We were obsessed with cutting out the right words + images from magazines to show how we were feeling at the time (or how we wanted to feel). Little did I know, I was actually creating a vision board.
Throughout college and after, I continued to dabble in sketching and painting, but nothing of a consistent, concrete nature. I would just pick it up now and again when I had some time.
Fast forward to a couple of years ago when I started taking a local abstract painting class. It was my first formal art class as an adult and I wasn’t sure what to expect, I just knew I needed to try it. Would I like it? Would I be any good at it? Would I be able to express what was deep in my heart that motivated me to go there in the first place?
Turns out I was pretty bad when I started painting in that abstract class; I felt clumsy and misunderstood. What I was painting was not jiving with what I wanted to paint. Looking back, I realize I was painting in a way that would help me fit in–it was awkward to try something new as an adult and I was trying to paint like the other students (and how my teacher told me to).
But painting like everyone else felt wrong. I wasn’t enjoying it and it quickly began to feel like a task rather than a release. So I gave myself a pep talk, “Steph you’re here to have fun–to explore the deep desire in your heart to create. Listening to others and their direction is not going to get you there, so let’s start doing it your way.” After I admitted painting for them and not me was not going to get me where I wanted to go, everything changed.
I started exploring my own style, my own voice. Even though it looked very different from my classmates.
And then the girls were born.
This past Sunday when I was standing in front of a wall full of my creations thinking about my rocky start, I was so grateful that I followed my heart + kept trying. I knew that I needed to express myself through painting and collage, but I wasn’t sure how to do it or where it would lead me. It was a humbling reminder that a lot of life happens just by showing up and being willing. This art journey I’m on is so very fulfilling + make me so so happy when I’m immersed in it.
Me + My Honey
My nieces (and muses)
So I encourage all of you out there reading this to listen to that little whisper inside your heart that’s calling you to do something. We all have those whispers. Take a mini step today towards that thing, even if it’s just writing it down or saying it out loud.
My 2 hour class each week over the past few years led to this gallery show. I couldn’t have seen this on my first night of painting in class, but inch by inch, I made a dream come true–and you can too.
PS: Want to see some of the girls in the show? Look here and here and here.
