Puzzles and Plays

When my mom tells people she has an artist for a daughter they sometimes ask, “Did you always have paint all over the walls?” Her answer is something along the lines of “No, she spent most of her time doing puzzles.” And, that is really what I spent a great deal of time doing.  That and I loved coloring books. I’ve always been a doodler; spirals, hearts, and stars being my favorites to draw most of the time. I also wrote a great deal of horrible poetry.

Here’s me striking a pose.

 One of my best friends in grade school had a jungle for a backyard.  And, it was enormous.  Her brother also had a Power Wheels Jeep.  The battery was usually dead, but that didn’t stop us.  We would spend hours planning out storylines and endless possibilities for crazy situations that might occur during our stories.  A lot of times secret agents were involved and we had to run before getting caught.  If we happened to be over at my house, we would still verbally write our stories its just that Barbies and my Little Ponies were used instead of the Power Wheels Jeep.

In about 2nd or 3rd grade I wrote a play with some friends of mine at our after school club. I don’t know the exact story line, but do know that a princess was involved in some way. I was most certainly the director of this play and made awards to hand out to all of the participants when it was all said and done.

I think I pretty much do very similar things as an artist today.  I come up with a notion, a “What if” this or that based a great deal on my idea that everyone is connected.  I then spend a great deal of time coming up with how to communicate the story or thought to a wider audience than myself.  The biggest difference is that as a child it was enough that only my friend and I were the creators, makers, and audience members of our on the fly productions, but today I want more people involved.

And, I still color whenever I get a chance.