Laume's Studio

I've been tagged by Sarah of Circles of Rain for a six question meme.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you (as I did above).
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell 6 things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them.
5. Go to each person's blog and leave them a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

I'm glad to play, at least in part. In part? Well, I'll explain that at the end. But first, six things about myself. Should I make them artsy things?

1. I had to learn to like the color purple (hmmm, the color purple - GREAT book). I think I had an aversion to it because I thought of it as a frou frou color - the way some folks have an aversion to pink for the same reason. Oddly, I've never disliked pink. I dislike dressing little girls in nothing BUT pink but that's a different thing altogether. In moderation, now and again, I like pink a lot, bring it on from pale shell to hot flamingo! Purple, not so much. Lavender, periwinkle (is that a blue or a purple?) were fine. Just not dark purples. I think I also associated them with crazy, flamboyant old ladies. Maybe something that stuck in my head from the 60's or maybe from that wonderful poem "When I am An Old Woman" - which to my mind has been misused now that all those Red Hat ladies are wearing it to be the SAME instead of DIFFERENT - misses the point entirely to my mind - but I digress. I learned to like it when I started quilting. And I learned to like it in the garden, especially when combined with orange. And then I started to notice it as a wonderful addition to an autumn palette. Ripe purple grapes are just as symbolic of the turning of the wheel as colorful leaves.

2. I idolized my eccentric bohemian artist of an aunt when I was little. She encouraged me in my artistic pursuits. I remember her taking me and my efforts far more serious than my parents did (which is probably true of a lot of adults who aren't yet parents themselves - they interact with children in a different and intriguing way) and her cluttered book filled house seemed exotic and sophisticated to me. Sadly like many bohemians, she fell victim to the darker side of the lifestyle - instability, mental illness, drugs. I don't really know her entire story but, as I grew older, she fell off the pedestal I'd placed her on more and more frequently. I felt bitter and angry and betrayed by her refusal to stay up there. These many years later I have a greater understanding of her struggle for balance and acceptance in a more judgemental and restrictive generation and a bittersweet affection for her influence on me. I wish her muse had won out over her monsters. I believe her son went on to live an artistic but more balanced life. We've lost touch. Last time I saw him was decades ago. I should try to find and contact him.

3. I do my best thinking for writing when I'm driving. Of course the problem with that is I can't watch the road, hold the steering wheel, talk on my cell phone, hold my Starbucks, AND type on my laptop all at the same time. Okay, I'm being silly. It is hard to hold on to exact wording but it's still a great time and place for plot and character development.

4. In my twenties I landed a job as a graphic artist for a paper company. I don't remember exactly what products they made but I think it was newsletters, stationary, business cards, etc. In hindsight, it would have been a foot in the door for a career in that direction. It wasn't to be however as I quit after a week because the "art department" was only a partitioned off area in the printing warehouse and I just couldn't handle the high noise level from the machines.

5. When I was in.... oh, fourth grade through seventh maybe?... I used to draw horses ALL THE TIME. Any stance, any breed, any size. I was really good at it. I tried to draw one recently and a lot of the technique came back to me automatically but still, it wasn't as easy as I rmember it being. I guess that just proves that practice really does make a difference. Well, duh. But I think we forget that sometimes.

6. When I was a teenager my mom let me paint an mural in my sister's bedroom that filled one entire wall and wrapped around a second. It was a forest scene with trees, a deer, bunnies.... don't remember what else. My mom has a picture or two of it in a box somewhere. It's long gone now. Probably painted over shortly after my mom sold the house.

Now the part that I don't play. I don't tag forward as I never know who would love to play and who would groan at the idea. But if you'd like to be tagged and play, just let me know and I'll add a link to you here on the bottom of this post and then come see what six things you come up with about yourself - it's harder than you think!