Sunday, December 9, 2012

Artist training



Long ago, when she was 18, my sister ran away from home.  I asked the plant foreman of the little manufacturing company where I worked if he would interview my sister for a job opening I knew existed.  He did, he hired her, she came to live with me.  In the four years she was there she went through all the plant’s manufacturing jobs and popped out in engineering as a draftsman trainee.

Back at home she was always drawing.  There was an artist supply store up on Mentor Avenue where she bought a lot of stuff and asked a lot of advice.  Nothing she drew or painted really pleased her.  I remember art boards with bright acrylic colors in the trash.  Lots of scrunched up paper.  I smiled; she was my little sister.

One day my friend Carol asked a favor. She would be out of town on registration day; would I go through the line at Lakeland and register her for the next semester. As I paid up for Carol I had the epiphany.  I found a listing of all the classes for the semester, found Art-Drawing 101, went back through the line and enrolled Janice.  It must be something to be learned, I reasoned, if it was taught.

A couple of times each week Jan drove to Lakeland for her art class. She learned stuff like proportion, perspective.  Artist stuff.  I have no idea, she has the right brain.  Mine is left.  I offered her another art class when Drawing 101 ended but she declined.  She knew what to do, now.



This pencil work for her class featured my octagonal dinner plates, a chicken egg from the fridge and a finch egg from Carrie Nation.  It was the first thing I didn’t see crumpled in the waste basket, and I framed it for her.

She became a pen and ink person.  Boxes of nibs.  Bottles of ink. One day a friend got up close to inspect some of the art hanging on our walls.  Then she turned around and said “You did all this!” She only knew Jan as a weaver turned quilter.



One of my favorites.  I photo shopped around with the glare and the flash and quit while I was ahead.

These days, beside designing and making quilts, and quilting, Jan is fooling around with something called Zentangle™. It’s a one line at a time technique. That’s what she told me.  I’m the left brain.  I’ve also heard her say something to the effect of what she could have done with these Micron™ pens forty years ago.



A page of Zentangles™.

23 comments:

  1. What a talented woman she is.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Joanne. Thank you, Janice. We are all SO enriched by the sharing. There are a thousand pictures lying within a woman that she does not know until she takes up her pen to draw (adapted from a Wm. Thackery quote.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had seen zentangles before but none as well-done as your sisters!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't take photos or draw so i'll just stick to writing. Don't know if i'm a right or left brain person.

    ReplyDelete
  5. so good you enrolled her for that first class and unlocked all that talent. Her work is very,very good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am always in awe of artists,whatever their genre.
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great drawings!! Wise of you to get your sister into a class to "fine tune" her so to speak. I always admire those that can draw, and draw well; such a talent I didn't get.

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  8. When it comes to art...or anything...I think it's the PASSION even more than any God-given ability. Passion get a person through the disasters, the depression, the discouragement. Most things can be learned if a person has enough desire.

    However, Micron pens are SO much easier to work with than Rapidograph and ink pens. Love all that art! The Zentagles especially.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Man, do I totally relate to this. Doodled and drew my whole life but didn't learn to draw til I took the very same class. There were rules! Who knew. I also moved into pen and ink and from there to etched glass. It seemed an easy transition. But, yeah, learning to draw.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a great story this is! Joanne, you are such an encouraging person, and your sister can sure draw. The picture of the cat and the broken vase - now THAT is a real cat waiting to jump off the page. Great Zentangles too.

    ReplyDelete
  11. you two sure are close. It all worked out in a wonderful way it appears. Zentangles - great name that I now need to check out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Such a talented woman (and I also love the cat on the chair). Such a supportive sister - a wonderful combination.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your sister has a wonderful talent and you are a fantastic sister. She is very lucky to have you, Joanne.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your sister has so much talent! I love the cat looking at the broken vase. My grand daughter is studying Art at Uni, I wonder if she has heard of Zentangles. I know I never have, until now.

    ReplyDelete
  15. She is quite good. Question for you, where did the title of this blog come from?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The title came from a life incident thirty years ago. I reposted the bit I wrote about it under the Inquiring Minds tab. Enjoy.

      Delete
  16. I am always so impressed with artists...

    The frame around the eggs drawing? :-) I have that around a piece of art in my home as well!

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
  17. p.s. And you and your sister thinking of me at the bus stop? :-) Just saw that comment on my blog and had to come back and smile at you! It tickles me to know that you guys were thinking of me.

    And for the record: it WAS cold at the bus stop this morning! Actually wore the hood of my coat up and snapped at the neck. :-) It's a look. That's all I have to say. It's a look. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. She's so talented. I love reading the stories of your family. They are so fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I wish I could draw and paint so well. Your family really is full of intereseting folk.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am so blessed to have a sister who loves me so...I know people who don't get that support. The encouragement is the key to just about anything you attempt. When you don't know how to do the next step and someone looking over your shoulder knows the solution...well, Joanne has been the wind beneath my wings for years. Thanks sis!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I drool each time I visit your house and see Jan's art work..Such talent..Always knew it was there. She just had to find an outlet.

    ReplyDelete