Brilliant and artistic? Well, I would not say that, however I wouldn’t dream of arguing with your impeccable sense of good taste and style. 😉 Thank you, Sara.
Wow, I'm really impressed, Norm...not only a crazy guy, but a crazy, very artsy guy. It's hard to balance crazy and art...I know, I've been doing it all my life. Kt started by following my grandfather around in the back yard when I was a toddler. He taught me how to operate and push the lawn mower when I was young, and how to fix it when it broke down....just by observation, but it entertained me. I try to hide the crazy with my art, actually. It calms the craziness, as I'm sure you found after you finished your "art". It's beautiful! I, having been a single mother for the better part of my life, caused me to learn how to figure things out, so my kids thought I was superwoman. I didn't have a guy who could climb the ladder, or hold it, for that matter. So I got brave and climbed the ladder and cleaned out gutters and did some painting of walls, and changed out smoke alarms. I think the climbing came from climbing trees as a tomboy...or it is tomgirl? And, climbing up on the garage roof to hide from my brother and spy on my family. My greatest sense of mechanical success was when my brother got an erector set from my dad. He told me it was way to difficult for me to play with, and anyway I was a girl and it was not a girl's toy. So he hid it (in the closet where I found it), so when he wasn't home, I played with it. It made me feel very wise and confident that I could build anything, as long as I had a screwdriver, screws and pieces of metal. I got to create buildings and cities...and had to dismantle them before he came home. I got really good at it. I love to work with my hands, so learned how to paint on canvas, and how to create stained glass windows with cut glass. I made a whole transom of windows around the entry to the door of the house I live in now. My builder said it added an additional $2000 to the value of the house. So, if you think you can do something, just buy the tools and do it. It's so much easier now than it used to be. I hate reading instructions, like for buiilding a swing set in the yard or something. I prefer to learn by watching others first. I'm a visual learner. So the internet DIY is a great source for me.
I'm very impressed with your work, Norm. So if you needed an 'atta boy', you get top prizes for your work and the ability to take things on you won't let yourself be unsure of. Keep it up! Who knows what wild ride you will go on next?
Thank you, Kate. I have always admired folks who can create art. I have zero drawing ability. I could never do a painting on canvas or sculpt anything artistic out of a lump of clay. My brain simply does not work that way. For me, art is indefinable - it is in the eye of the beholder. If I have any artistic ability at all, I believe it comes from understanding angles and balance and symmetry and spacing. I have a good sense of what should go where. “Oh, that picture would look good above the stove.” Or “The ficus would be perfect in that corner.” Or “You know what would be cool? A border of rocks around our new tile floor.” Our floor mosaic was supposed to be smaller and simpler. I knew it would do me no good to try to sketch it out beforehand. I kind of had a rudimentary idea as to what I wanted to do, so I just started doing it. Sketching it out would have discouraged me from even trying, because the sketch would have been terrible. I try to be honest with myself about my limitations so that I can figure out a way around them. I would guess other creative people experience that feeling, as well.
Absolutely, we all have our strengths and, what we would call our weaknesses. Like you I can see what things would look like in places in my house. Amazingly to me, other people don't have that ability. It seems so natural to me. And, I hate to sketch. When I paint, I just paint, rarely do I ever draw out a painting first...and if so, only details, as I hate trying to paint people on canvas. Very difficult for me. So we work in some type of secret creative artistic tunnels. only known to our true selves. I hate directions, I just like to freestyle . Thanks for letting me share with you. I am sorry I take up so much of your substack space. It's not mine, it's yours.
No apology necessary, Kate. A Comments section is a blank canvas. I encourage you to paint whatever word picture you want. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. 👍
Thanks, Karen. Sometimes you just have to take a flying leap into the unknown. Given that I did not know what I was doing, I was as surprised as anyone that it turned out well.
Wow -- that is such a brilliant & artistic solution!!
Brilliant and artistic? Well, I would not say that, however I wouldn’t dream of arguing with your impeccable sense of good taste and style. 😉 Thank you, Sara.
Wow, I'm really impressed, Norm...not only a crazy guy, but a crazy, very artsy guy. It's hard to balance crazy and art...I know, I've been doing it all my life. Kt started by following my grandfather around in the back yard when I was a toddler. He taught me how to operate and push the lawn mower when I was young, and how to fix it when it broke down....just by observation, but it entertained me. I try to hide the crazy with my art, actually. It calms the craziness, as I'm sure you found after you finished your "art". It's beautiful! I, having been a single mother for the better part of my life, caused me to learn how to figure things out, so my kids thought I was superwoman. I didn't have a guy who could climb the ladder, or hold it, for that matter. So I got brave and climbed the ladder and cleaned out gutters and did some painting of walls, and changed out smoke alarms. I think the climbing came from climbing trees as a tomboy...or it is tomgirl? And, climbing up on the garage roof to hide from my brother and spy on my family. My greatest sense of mechanical success was when my brother got an erector set from my dad. He told me it was way to difficult for me to play with, and anyway I was a girl and it was not a girl's toy. So he hid it (in the closet where I found it), so when he wasn't home, I played with it. It made me feel very wise and confident that I could build anything, as long as I had a screwdriver, screws and pieces of metal. I got to create buildings and cities...and had to dismantle them before he came home. I got really good at it. I love to work with my hands, so learned how to paint on canvas, and how to create stained glass windows with cut glass. I made a whole transom of windows around the entry to the door of the house I live in now. My builder said it added an additional $2000 to the value of the house. So, if you think you can do something, just buy the tools and do it. It's so much easier now than it used to be. I hate reading instructions, like for buiilding a swing set in the yard or something. I prefer to learn by watching others first. I'm a visual learner. So the internet DIY is a great source for me.
I'm very impressed with your work, Norm. So if you needed an 'atta boy', you get top prizes for your work and the ability to take things on you won't let yourself be unsure of. Keep it up! Who knows what wild ride you will go on next?
Thank you, Kate. I have always admired folks who can create art. I have zero drawing ability. I could never do a painting on canvas or sculpt anything artistic out of a lump of clay. My brain simply does not work that way. For me, art is indefinable - it is in the eye of the beholder. If I have any artistic ability at all, I believe it comes from understanding angles and balance and symmetry and spacing. I have a good sense of what should go where. “Oh, that picture would look good above the stove.” Or “The ficus would be perfect in that corner.” Or “You know what would be cool? A border of rocks around our new tile floor.” Our floor mosaic was supposed to be smaller and simpler. I knew it would do me no good to try to sketch it out beforehand. I kind of had a rudimentary idea as to what I wanted to do, so I just started doing it. Sketching it out would have discouraged me from even trying, because the sketch would have been terrible. I try to be honest with myself about my limitations so that I can figure out a way around them. I would guess other creative people experience that feeling, as well.
Absolutely, we all have our strengths and, what we would call our weaknesses. Like you I can see what things would look like in places in my house. Amazingly to me, other people don't have that ability. It seems so natural to me. And, I hate to sketch. When I paint, I just paint, rarely do I ever draw out a painting first...and if so, only details, as I hate trying to paint people on canvas. Very difficult for me. So we work in some type of secret creative artistic tunnels. only known to our true selves. I hate directions, I just like to freestyle . Thanks for letting me share with you. I am sorry I take up so much of your substack space. It's not mine, it's yours.
No apology necessary, Kate. A Comments section is a blank canvas. I encourage you to paint whatever word picture you want. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. 👍
Looks amazing!
Thank you, Cassi. I really did not know it was going to be good before I started. It just kind of turned out that way. 😊
It’s absolutely gorgeous, nicely done!
Thanks, Karen. Sometimes you just have to take a flying leap into the unknown. Given that I did not know what I was doing, I was as surprised as anyone that it turned out well.