The Best Place To Begin Is At The Beginning

How I Became A Painter

Three Rocks

Perhaps the best place to begin an artist’s blog is at the beginning, how the artist became conscious of his or her artistic temperament, and how that consciousness began to seep out into the larger world.

I drew at an early age, though not, apparently as early as I began to sing. (But that’s another story…) As a child I drew animals and flowers, the things that surrounded me as I was growing up on a farm in rural Nova Scotia. My abilities were recognized in a sort of benign, passive way. My siblings and I were raised to be not overly fond or vocal about our accomplishments. But I do remember my parents drawing attention to my first efforts when various visitors – family or close family friends – stopped by.

The first significant, non-family recognition of my artistic abilities was a prize I received in (I think) Grade 7 – a wooden paint box with oils and brushes. (I still have it.) That is where it officially began – my consciousness of myself as an “artist”, and the expansion of this sensibility out into the wider world.

(An aside, in the form of a question: How much of this sensibility/sensitivity is tied to my sexual orientation? I’m sure I’ll return to this at some point…)

Fast forward 50 plus years, and here I am, blogging on my gallery’s website. How weird is that!