Budding Artists

"The Rain" - illustrated poem by Georgia May Copland

I am blessed with a baker's dozen of nieces. Two generations of them, actually. And all are beautiful and talented each in their own way. Among the youngest of them are two budding artists; Autumn and Georgia, and from time to time they send me samples of their artwork. I recently had the opportunity to spend the weekend with Georgia (who's 8, almost 9) and we drew and colored for hours on end. Then the other day in the mail I received the masterpiece above, which she created.

When I was the age of these two young girls, I was humiliated by my teacher for what she perceived as a lack of imagination and talent. From that point on I struggled in my art classes until I was in the eighth grade an no longer required to take it. I never took an art class again (except for art history and art appreciation) until I was 39.

I've since come to realize that there are just two requirements to being an artist. 

 1. a desire to create

 2. the joy of making a mark on a piece of paper or canvas

That's it! That's all that's required. Now I can't tell you what makes an artist successful. I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. 

But I highly encourage anyone consumed with the desire to create to go out and do just that. We were created to create. I firmly believe that. And we truly are not happy unless we're creating. So, today; now, even. Go make something. Bake a cake, write a poem; know the satisfaction of being a creator.