Thankful I Rediscovered Art

I have always loved art. Even as a child, I loved drawing, coloring in coloring books, music, books, and all the wonderful things that are considered art. I have never had any artistic talent, unfortunately, and I always wondered why I loved it so much. Over the years, I have tried all forms of art. I have to say that my favorite is music. I love the classics, my favorite being Beethoven's Sonata #14, or Moonlight Sonata, as it is commonly known. I sang in glee club at school, choir at church and always wanted to be a musician. As life would have it, that was not my path. Our lives are so complex and the paths that we take are, at times, odd. Sometimes I wonder how I arrived at the place that I am today. But, I think that things happen for a reason and God always has a plan. I taught myself to crochet at about 16 and then later on, learned cross stitch, embroidery, rug hooking, macrame (remember macrame plant hangers?) and a bit of knitting. I learned all these from a dear and wonderful friend that I shall always love and cherish. Her name is Dixie and she is the most talented person I have ever met. She can do anything. For a number of years, I was so busy raising children, working and living my life, that I did not have the time or patience for art and completely gave up all my hobbies other than gardening. A few years ago, I learned to knit for real and started dabbling in watercolors. I realized very quickly that I am not a painter nor am I an artist of any kind. I am much better the with the needle arts....quilting, embroidery, cross stitching, but one thing has always remained the same....and that is my love of letters and numbers. Fonts, puzzles, calligraphy, lettering, writing. All those things are so dear to me, so I decided to go in a little different direction. I started doing Artist Trading Cards and joined some ladies at my work in a card club. We meet every 2 weeks and make a variety of greeting cards. I really enjoy this and seem to be fairly good at it. In my search for ideas and creativity for my ATC's and greeting cards, I literally stumbled onto something called Zentangle. At first, as I researched it, I never thought I would ever be able to do such beautiful artwork, but I discovered that I can!!! My life has changed forever. I now carry a sketchbook with me all the time. I am constantly looking for new ways to do my art, which now consists of Zentangle, ATC's and greeting cards. I am so happy and thrilled that I have found an art medium that I love and can actually do! My mother has been ill off and on since last summer and recently had a stroke that was very severe. She is still in rehab and we are thinking that she may never be able to live alone again, or even with me. The past few weeks have been so stressful for Randy and me and I have spent so many hours sitting in the hospital with her and trying to help her understand what has happened to her. My art has been my life saver. When she is sleeping, I sit in the quiet and tangle, or work on ATC's and I truly think that this has helped me to get through each day. The future is so uncertain and each day, I wonder what is going to happen. I thank God every day for allowing me to have this art....sometimes things do happen for a reason.