Contemporary Artist..who me??

I have been drawing since I could hold a crayon.  I used to make cards for my Mom & Gramma for every special occasion.  And like most children's artwork,  the fridges in both kitchens were covered with doodles & drawings.  I remember when I was really little, my Dad set up my art station in our finished basement.  He took a hollow door & put it on crates or something..can't remember exactly, but what I do remember is the coffee cans that were filled with colored pencils, crayons & markers as well as several stacks of different kinds of paper.  While most of my childhood drawings were depictions of "Snoopy & Woodstock" I was lucky enough to go to a highschool that greatly supported the arts.  There I was educated on techniques & styles as well as Art History.  I furthered my education in college with one of my favorite classes taught by the great Sheila Kriemelman.  She is a stunning woman, incredibly talented & full of eccentricities.  She really pushed me to pull inspiration from within & push the envelope.  Most of my work was somewhat "off" if not out & out sinister/borderline disturbia...then again I was only 19 or 20...so you know..whatever right? Anywho, later on in life I spent 15 years as an interior designer.  It has only been a few years that I have tapped back into my artistic life and somewhere along the way I became increasingly, for lack of a better phrase, anal retentive.  I only focused on graphite & ink.  The sharper the point, the more "tight" I was wound.  i always shied away from acrylic/oil paints for fear I would not have enough control.  But, this past year I was fortunate enough to meet an incredibly talented woman while I had my shop in Sugar Loaf.  Marisol Diaz is a brilliant artist & art teacher.  She too pushes her students to think outside the box.  One of her specialties is water color painting.  She teaches her students to treat the water color paper with random ingredients like coffee, tea & salt amongst a few.  This helps her students ease any anxiety created by staring at a blank sheet of paper.  I think this is a brilliant notion.  I tapped into this notion when I decided just a few days ago to explore the art of water color again.  It has been over 20 years!!! Say whaaaaat?  While I have never been or considered myself a Contemporary Artist like my Aunt Terry, I am totally stoked to re-explore this medium that will allow me to "let go", even if just a teeny weeny bit.

I look forward to sharing more work with all you fine feathered friends. ;)  Rena