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Art was not taught when I went to school and all of my life I believed I had no art talent , so "I never tried" .
Since I got into stamping and bought some Copics I have watched all of the YouTube videos I could find and read Marianne Walker's tutorials on using Copics. Then I practiced what I saw.
Today I colored my new Tilda including her hair. After I finished and admired my handiwork all I could say is "Wow I actually did that"
She looks very nice.
Have any of you been surprised at what you can do IF you try?
How many people go through life believing they can't do something when the truth is that no one ever showed them how to do it?
Barbara
Well I, for one, want to see that beautiful Tilda! Good for you for believing in yourself and trying something new and you're absolutely right: it's amazing what we can do when we give ourselves the shot!
There has been only ONE thing in my life that I took lessons for - and that was playing the piano. The rest........ playing the guitar, crocheting,needlepoint, irish whistles, sewing, quilting, paper crafting AND reading tarot cards - has all been self taught.
So, no I'm not surprised at what I can do - but I'm amazed when I do it well!
__________________ A good dog, a sewing machine, and an old guitar......
Oh i love lessons even though I can figure things out for myself....I am a technique junkie and always have been....but wandering off to a lesson on, say...Pearl Ex.... I figure I know just about all there is to know about that topic...but, hey....along comes another thing I can do....or I get to revisit something I had chucked to the back of my mind and wasn't doing anymore.
I go to camps where the main focus is already something I can do...but it is lovely to immerese myself in that atmosphere and I go thinking there may be a hint or two I could possibly pick up...I am not phased if ther is not.
I always swore i'd never be able to use a computer as they didn't exist when i was in school and i've always woked in shops so never had to use one at work.I wanted to have a look at some cardmaking stuff and asked hubby to find a website on his.He showed me a few basics like how to navigate etc and i was amazed at this whole new world espescially as this site also had a gallery.I bought myself a laptop and a Windows for dummies book and there was no stopping me. Now 2 years later i've just started a blog. Evertime i looked at blogs i noticed "create blog" at the top of the page and i decided to click on it and see what happened.
I couldn't believe how easy it was, not totally headache free but i managed to muddle through just by having a go. Di.
I could have written this post! I was never artistic at all. I'm still not nearly as talented as you ladies but I have come a long way. I was always too afraid to even try things because I didn't think I could do it. I have surprised myself with some of the things that I have done. I even weaved a basket a couple of weeks ago! I NEVER would have even thought of trying that years ago.
I homeschooled my girls for 10 years. They were my whole life. I never really had a hobby besides reading. After my girls went to college, I went back to work. Then I found this site and now I'm hooked. It's so addictive. I see all the new techniques and want to try them all. lol Dh loves that I have this hobby and is very supportive. He likes that I have something for ME.
This is a great and inspiring thread. My surprise was golf. Tried to learn...failed miserably with no encouragement...then found the right teacher. What a difference!! I really appreciate my stamping teacher and all the different classes and workshops I'm fortunate enough to be able to attend. Stamping Rocks!!
I SO totally agree! I did take art class for one semester in high school (freshman year) but all they did was pencil drawing and oil painting and I was horrible at it! You know you're bad when the art teacher tells you to just show up everyday, help hand out supplies and clean up afterwards, and do well on the written tests (just vocabulary words) and he'll give you an A, just don't try to draw or paint anything anymore. :shock: That's what happened to me, I kid you not! So, I didn't think I'd ever be able to do anything like color in stamps, etc. But I was good with other crafts (crocheting, etc) and wanted so badly to be 'artistic' so I started out doing just simple basic scrapbooking (think paper and a few eyelets here and there!) but then watched and learned from others, and got a little braver and a little braver, and now I'm pretty amazed at what I can do with coloring, etc.. No, it's not as good as you on here, but at least I'm happy with it and not afraid to keep trying and practicing. Some day, maybe with enough practicing, I hope to be as good as you, and I would never have thought that way years ago, and just that change in attitude (I-can-atude) speaks volumes!
Oh, where were you, stamping and scrapbooking, back all those years ago??? And take that now Mr Art Teacher!!!:razz:
__________________ Tish, a/k/a GaMtnScrap Be who you are. Those that matter don't mind, and those that mind don't matter.
Home economics was required when I went to school. We had to sew an apron. My mother who was an excellent seamstress bought a pattern for me that had bias binding all the way around. I was in too much of a hurry to sew it twice so the bias binding fell off the apron LOL. The sewing teacher said I was hopeless and it would be a waste of money for me to ever buy large spools of thread.
Then I had children and we had no money. I bought a pattern and corduroy for crawlers I sewed them by hand. They turned out wearable Eventually we bought a used treadle sewing machine and I got good at sewing. Quite a few years ago I sewed for a gift shop. I Would have loved to find the teacher who said I was hopeless at sewing!!
The only problem was the pattern I had in school was too advanced for a beginner.
I learned from that when I start something to use a pattern or project for a beginner.
I never really thought I could draw. I always did dimensional things (sculpture, pottery, etc.). But I decided to take a pencil drawing class just on a whim.
I'm so glad I did - I'm doing better than I thought I would. I've even inked a few designs and made them into digi stamps and added them to my site (just simple free ones - I'm still perfecting technique and probably will be for years :rolleyes
But... I think a class really helped me. It made me try and forced me to dedicate time to practicing.
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I grew up in WI. and I had art. I'm so sorry you missed out on that!
I'm not talented when it comes to drawing or painting. I just took a watercolor painting class. I was sooooo looking forward to it, but I wasn't very good! ;)
I am somewhat creative...
I think stamping brings back those childhood days of being freely creative. I can't wait to purchase copics and some good line art stamps and relive those care free days of coloring with my neighborhood friends on my front porch!!
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
I went to school in the 40's and early 50's . The emphasis was on reading, English, math, geography, home economics , penmanship , spelling and a little science
We had penmanship and spelling classes every week with homework.
Cultural classes such as music and art were not considered productive so they were not important in school . The kids who had music or dance lessons did so after school. My parents saw no value in music or dance classes for me.
Woman sewed and did quilting, a little embroidery and knitting or crocheting. Other creative/ artistic pastimes were not widely pursued .
Even a hobby had to produce something useful.
My deceased father would be aghast that I not only spent money on Copics and stamps , but then I sat and colored for hours just for the pleasure of of doing it.
In those days if a person wanted to build a career in any art field they were considered a loafer who was too lazy to work LOL
The musicians, writers or artists who had outstanding talent had to battle the opinion of their families and friends to follow their dreams
In those days if a person wanted to build a career in any art field they were considered a loafer who was too lazy to work LOL
The musicians, writers or artists who had outstanding talent had to battle the opinion of their families and friends to follow their dreams
In THOSE days??? I graduated high school in 1995 and I nearly gave my dad a heart attack when I went into music. I had to pay for my own education from beginning to end (I now have $90,000 in student loans) to follow my dream. He wanted me to do something "normal" like be a secretary or something!
I am now a high school music teacher and it is astonishing how many parents REFUSE to allow their very talented children (I taught at a fine arts school before my current high school) to go into the arts. Most of my students go into the sciences to become doctors..
I do think this thread is about finding some artistic talent in ourselves that we thought laid dormant. I did, for sure! I never considered myself a very good visual artist (i sucked, actually) and because of stamping/cardmaking I am now fairly confident in my abilities... It DOES feel good!
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In THOSE days??? I graduated high school in 1995 and I nearly gave my dad a heart attack when I went into music. I had to pay for my own education from beginning to end (I now have $90,000 in student loans) to follow my dream. He wanted me to do something "normal" like be a secretary or something!
I am now a high school music teacher and it is astonishing how many parents REFUSE to allow their very talented children (I taught at a fine arts school before my current high school) to go into the arts. Most of my students go into the sciences to become doctors..
I do think this thread is about finding some artistic talent in ourselves that we thought laid dormant. I did, for sure! I never considered myself a very good visual artist (i sucked, actually) and because of stamping/cardmaking I am now fairly confident in my abilities... It DOES feel good!
We seem to have a very similar story. Music teacher, tuition debt, dad thought I would make a good secretary, etc. The fine arts seem to be quite a joke in the US. Very few people consider them serious careers...thing is kids in other countries could run circles around us artistically and musically. They learn these skills at a very young age and have them integrated in their curriculum. (Hmmm...better schools....connection....food for thought!)
I had a terrible art teacher who tried to compare me to my father, which was in NO WAY fair. He graded my projects in this manner. I hated art class. It always made me feel bad, and I always felt that I let me dad down because I couldn't draw very well. With that said, I know, as a teacher, there are only so many things we have time to cover in a particular class. There are so many things I wish I could let my students try to see if they would be interested. Thankfully, as adults we can explore, try new things and discover hidden talents and interests in areas we thought we had none.
My creations are in no way artist-worthy, but I know I have some art skills or I wouldn't enjoy this particular hobby. I do love looking at something and being in disbelief that I actually created it. (Really...it's God's handiwork. I am just lucky enough to be the one who He lets put it together.)
No matter what anyone says ....you never know till you try! Sounds like a great bunch of people who never gave up. It is an honor to be on this board with you.
My mom, who had an art degree, always told me "never get a degree in Art, you'll never make any money" As a rebellious teenager of course I ignored her. Now she's jealous of me and what I get to do with my art degree.
But If you're an artist of any kind (crafters ARE artists, don't think you aren't!!), you DON'T do it for the money, you do it for the love of doing it. Money is not a gauge of how successful you are, HAPPINESS is!
Anyone who tells someone they're no good at doing something, is just projecting themselves and their own insecurities. Anyone can be artistic, but it takes the right teacher to helps someone overcome their fears. Some people can overcome insecurities on their own, but for the rest of the people I think they will be surprised at what they can do if they just try and don't worry about failure.
You can't learn from perfection, you only learn from mistakes
I so need to get working and stop SCS surfing, but couldn't resist jumping in on this one.
I've always been "crafty", but not "artsy". In my mind, they were 2 different things. It seems artsy was considered only for the elite group of creative people. Crafty was making things that anyone could make and for some reason associated with "cheap". I never thought of myself as artistic because when I drew or painted on paper in art class at school, my stuff didn't remotely look like they did in real life. Therefore, I was NOT creative and had no artistic talent at all.
Meanwhile, I did everything (almost) else under the sun...goes like this: crocheting (age 4?), knitting, crewelwork, oil painting, embroidery, rug hooking, candlewicking (am I the only one who did this?), crossstitch, counted crossstitch, stainglass, tolepainting, felting, spinning, weaving (still have the 4 harness loom in my livingroom), papercutting (schrn-something), embossing, stencilling, theorem painting, pen & ink, scrapbooking...and now papercrafting! I love, love, love papercrafting/gamsol with pencils/reinkers. I finally feel creative and have even started selling my things lately. (My family appreciates this as they were running out of wall and storage space with all the things I had made them over the years! LOL!)
BTW, on the subject of sewing, I took sewing class 3 times, and I still hate it. (Oh, I forgot I did quilting too.) Patterns are the most difficult thing to understand. I can make curtins if I just do it, but I still can't make an apron using a pattern. My sister is the sewer in the family and does beautiful quilts, and even she says patterns are difficult to follow. Would you believe she can't make curtins and asked me how I do them? I told her, "I don't know, I just do them!"
Anyway, I've learned that I AM creative. I found this article in a flyer at work one day (many moons ago) and it really changed my outlook on creativity. You may enjoy it too.
Clear Up Creativity Myths
Creativity is often misunderstood, according to David Perkins, author of The Mind�s Best Work (Harvard University Press). People labor under four common misunderstandings about creativity:
� Creativity is some kind of special something � like an extra thumb � that creative people have and others don�t.
� Only extremely bright people with high IQs and a lot of education are truly creative.
� Creativity is a kind of mystical happening, something that�s not understood well and can�t really be explained.
� Creative people are always creative and always successful.
In each case, however, the truth about creativity is just the opposite:
� Almost everyone is creative in some way, as we solve problems and generate new ideas � these are creative processes we go through all the time.
� There is no relationship between IQ and creativity. In fact, many researchers think there are many more kinds of intelligence than IQ tests measure.
� Creativity is understood, and it can be taught. People can learn to be creative, practice it, and get better at it.
� Even the most creative people fail more times than not. What we all tend to remember are people�s successes, not the failures that came before success.
As long as we hold onto creativity myths, we are blind to the facts, and to the possibilities. If you consider yourself uncreative, think again. You have the ability to put your creative mind to work.
I've also learned that I actually CAN draw and I can learn it and get better at it. I've also learned that I don't have to "work" to get better at things I love, my passion just takes me there. I look back on things and think...wow, did I just make that? I didn't know I could do that!
I've also learned that SCS is the most awesome place to be for creativity. Everyone is so generous with their ideas and techniques. Thanks to everyone who has helped me on my journey.
Kathy
__________________ Let your light so shine before men...glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matt. 5:16 My blogMyGallery
Barbara, I have to say, I love what you started...... What great stories have been shared by everyone so far, I love them.
I, like Kathy, thought I was crafty not artsy; and every so often my creations would evoke the response of (excuse me, but) "Holy Crap, did I actually make that!, usually with a feeling of pride rather than disgust! And, there are the times where I've thought let me just add....oh no, I've gone too far!
I've still got boxes of counted cross stitch and needlepoint that I occasionally do, or will when I get too old to stamp or placed in a home for the old folks (ha ha) but my ability to create and passion to do it is so fulfilling and drives something inside that when you've expressed it, there's nothing like it, no matter how simple or extraordinary. And, that, to me, is why it's all art.
We are all creating and that's why I love SCS so much, because I hear stories like this. We can be different yet come together with the same passion and appreciate where everyone's coming from and accept that!!! Thank you all..............
Everyone needs positive reinforcement if they are to have any self esteem.
In our world where technology rules there is very little positive feedback and as a result many suffer from low self esteem.
We are all just numbers in the cogs of life . If employees get any positive comments it is for being good little robots and following the " employee hand book" or "procedure manual" to the letter.
Creative hobbies fill the need for positive feedback, either as we admire what we have done or others comment on our accomplishments
Years ago people did things themselves and got positive feedback that way. Mildred made the best apple pie; Sarah sewed the most beautiful clothes for her family; everyone looked forward to Lillian's fudge at Christmas.
Today most people buy all of these things, and no one says " Wow you bought a pie" .
This is why I feel the time and money spent ( within reason) on a hobby such as ours is money well spent. A person with healthy self esteem can weather many other storms in life a lot easier.
This was a fun read on a lazy Saturday afternoon (when I should be stamping! )
I think that creativity, like other gifts, can come at any time in life. I worked in the banking industry (corporate finance ~yuck!) from the time I was 17 yrs old. I never even imagined I could do something creative. I was sitting in a really boring meeting one day and I started doodling on my paper. My co-worker sitting next to me was amazed at what I had drawn. I honestly wasn't even thinking about what I was drawing, I was just doing it to keep from falling asleep!
I had a really bad breakdown in 1998 (looking back, maybe it was a good thing?!). I was thrust into therapy and the first thing my therapist did was introduce me to art therapy. The point wasn't to make anything worthy of selling, but to express the extreme feelings I was having. I couldn't get enough of it. I began drawing daily. The more I drew, the better I got (in my opinion, still not masterpieces, of course). By this time I was in my 30s.
So, yeah, I have definitely been surprised over the years at what I can do. I am eager to find out what other gifts I have that have yet to be tapped .
Have you been surprised at what you can do?
