A Thank You Note (from little me)

 In the words of little me, "TA-DAH!" It still does sort of feel like that. Like how it did when we were little and we would show our mom (or womever was close by) what we just finished drawing. And 50 years later, when someone says "Oh! I love it!" I still say happily "Really?!" Even if it's something I don't actually say out loud.

Bless her heart. That is, bless little me. I was always begging my big sisters and their friends to play board games with me. You could find me on my big wheel (I wore out two of those) and when I outgrew that I was in roller skates all day long. I remember how I loved to watch "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" when it came on before the evening news. He was so kind and encouraging. I still love his quotes. I can say with certainty, that this girl in the picture wanted new magic markers...because I always wanted some! They sold them at the Oak Grove Pharmacy and I can still picture exactly where they were displayed. (The aisle just to the right when you walked in, hanging on the left side of their short metal dispaly walls.) I suppose that was the start of the art supply adiction so many of us creatives have. My sister Sarah and I still laugh at how she'd threaten to break my crayons when she was mad at me! I remember vividly when crayola launched their first magic markers. My best friend Susan and I sat on the floor at her coffee table doodling away while watching the Muppet Show. Susan always got the newest things before anyone else and I was so appreciative that she'd share. We were simply AMAZED at their unusual tips and how you could make thick AND thin lines without picking it up off the paper. 

I guess you could say my first art sale was when Susan and I knocked on doors in our neighborhood and sold our drawings for a penny. And I can still show you the house where a kind lady paid me a whole nickel! Art was my refuge then and it still is now. It's a source of purpose and peace that I can not imagine a life without. Maybe that's why people tell me they feel a peace when they view my work. Never ever would I have believed I'd be an artist in the unimaginable year 2024. And you know what? It would not be possible without YOU! Little me would like to give you a hug and say "Thank you."