How is it some people are so Artistic...

I often ask myself how my cousin Belen can be so artistic, intelligent, musically inclined and just plain UNIQUE. She is legally blind too. She is determined to continue to do what she loves. That includes playing the flute, painting and possibly working on a second PhD. She's very competitive, by the way.

I, on the other hand can't even draw a straight line. 🤤
 
I think I was born without the creative gene. Way back in the 70s, I tried telling some women in a women's empowerment group I was in that and they told me I was wrong, that everybody in the world has at least a little creativity in them, that I just needed to work harder at finding what I was creative at. (Work even harder than depressed, recently-divorced me already was, uh huh.) I kept telling them no, no, I've already tried all that, doesn't work, I'm just not creative but they wouldn't listen. Welp, some years go by and guess what: they've found out that some people on the Autism/Aspergers spectrum (which I think I am) really aren't creative at all, it's not their fault, they were born like that. So there, women-who-told-me-that! (I realize that there are people on the Spectrum who are creative, but some definitely aren't)
 
This video showed up in my feed this evening. They tell you that keeping a sketchbook will make you calm and enhance your life. Well, that may be true if you're a talented artist like the ones shown in the video, but if you get frustrated because you can't draw, it's going to cause more stress — not less. :confused:

I create stuff in my woodshop, which is satisfying and relaxing for me. I like the idea of creating something from nothing, or restoring something that was ready for the dumpster to a nice piece of furniture. I've never really gotten that feeling from writing software, but I do from woodworking, probably because there's nothing tangible about a piece of software. The GUI or text shows up on the screen, but you can't touch the software or hold it in your hands. You can hold the money you make from writing software, which is far more than you can get from making a piece of fine furniture, so there's that, but it's not anywhere near as satisfying to create.

I'm amazed at people who can draw well and do so quickly. It seems like a gift, like being able to sing well or play the piano. I don't have any gifts like that. I have to work hard to get good at anything.
 
Creativity is a skill that can be learned, refined, and improved. It's not something you either have or don't have, it's like any other skill in life: The more you practice it, the better you get at it. The key to creativity is figuring out what works for you, finding your own process and then mastering it.

At a previous address, our neighbours, a Dutch wife and her English husband, had four children. They owned their own company and work had taken them to Germany and France. All the family spoke those four languages, fluently and the baby, a five year old girl, had mastered her linguistic art without even thinking that it takes a lot of effort.

"..and some people like me are just Dweebs in comparison..."
You may not share the talent of the artist that you portrayed, but you do have artistic skills, you use them almost daily. Have you ever wondered why forum members compliment you? The skill that you have is being able to read and assimilate members posts. Then you respond with thought and tact. Something that takes a lot of patience, I wouldn't mind betting there have been times when you had to bite your tongue or simply switch off.

I am sure that when members switch on and read this there will be many who will agree.

Take a bow, hollydolly.
 
PamfromTx said:
I often ask myself how my cousin Belen can be so artistic, intelligent, musically inclined and just plain UNIQUE. She is legally blind too. She is determined to continue to do what she loves. That includes playing the flute, painting and possibly working on a second PhD. She's very competitive, by the way.

I, on the other hand can't even draw a straight line. 🤤
Click to expand...
As a rule, Pam, I use a ruler.....😊
 
I marvel at anyone's artistic ability. My paternal grandfather, little brother and son are all very artistic. When my son was in Middle School, a newspaper came to his school and offered us an opportunity for him to create his own cartoon for that paper's comics. We declined as he was still a student and I felt he had to finish his schooling first. As it turned out, he fell in love with computer science and the rest is history.
 
SeniorBen said:
This video showed up in my feed this evening. They tell you that keeping a sketchbook will make you calm and enhance your life. Well, that may be true if you're a talented artist like the ones shown in the video, but if you get frustrated because you can't draw, it's going to cause more stress — not less. :confused:
Click to expand...
This is so true. For a while I believed what those women back in the 70s told me about how I could find out what my creativity was by just working even harder at it, but when I realized that they were wrong about me and finally gave up, I took a bunch of embroidery supplies I had been keeping--even though every time I got them out & tried to use them it made me feel awful--and donated them to an embroidery club and it felt like a coat of iron had been lifted off my shoulders; I felt better than I had felt in years, I almost was skipping as I left the club. To thine own self be true.
 
This is why I'm glad that I'm able to do cross-stitch. I have no artistic talent but I can create a work of art by following the charts designed by someone who does have talent.
 
I seem to be proof that it's not hereditary.
I've never known whether my eldest brother has any artistic talent, but both parents, other sibling, and both of my kids have been incredibly talented. In contrast, I've barely been able to draw a straight line.
 
JaniceM said:
I seem to be proof that it's not hereditary.
I've never known whether my eldest brother has any artistic talent, but both parents, other sibling, and both of my kids have been incredibly talented. In contrast, I've barely been able to draw a straight line.
Click to expand...
My sister..the youngest one, who doesn't look like any of the rest of us.. is the only one with artistic talent among us siblings.. she's a fantastic Comic book character creator , and also she's can make something beautiful out of nothing.. For example she can take things like a Carboard inner, and an old piece of wood, add some flowers and a few other adornments, which she picks up free that have been thrown away.. and she can make a beautiful tall floor vase.. which everyone admires.. she can envision things that I would never be able to see in my minds' eye...and do it with ease.. Very clever..
 
Last edited:
No one in my family is/was very artistic. No one even tried, we just knew it. Lol
In fact, when we moved in to this home, my mother hired a decorator from the furniture store to help her decorate.

Fast forward 50 yrs...after my parents died, and I was trying to keep myself busy, I decided to take a stenciling class close by. They had just become popular at that time.

We stenciled and painted chairs. I had fun w/it. I painted/stenciled these 2 little chairs I got from Michael's (craft store) and painted them w/an Easter theme, adding little stuffed animals to the chairs, and sold them out in front of my house.

Also, I have a bigger chair I did that has a green live plant in it that I have in my living room.

That's where my artistic abilities end... :)
 
I was born a Writer and Artist. I mostly struggle to create art with my hand, pencils, etc. But a couple decades ago I discovered Poser and DAZ Studio. They allow me to create characters, and place them into their own stories etc. In recent years I've delighted in creating "Senior Characters." Bitti Botti is a busybody!
 

Attachments

  • Bitti Smile.jpg
    Bitti Smile.jpg
    39.9 KB · Views: 0
PamfromTx said:
I often ask myself how my cousin Belen can be so artistic, intelligent, musically inclined and just plain UNIQUE. She is legally blind too. She is determined to continue to do what she loves. That includes playing the flute, painting and possibly working on a second PhD. She's very competitive, by the way.

I, on the other hand can't even draw a straight line. 🤤
Click to expand...
But you made one awesome Christmas wreath!
 
I've wondered this question myself. I too can hardly draw stick people. I can do some crafting, mainly by following a pattern. I did alter a scarf pattern from Ravelry and a number of people have favorited my project linked to the pattern. I'm so surprised at this.

I have just had to accept what I can do. I'd so love to knit a hat in fair isle with deer and trees but I don't think I'll ever have the talent to do so.
 
hollydolly said:
Oh how lovely.. thank you so much for the compliment HC... 🥰
Click to expand...
Just a heads up, whilst I am no artist, that comment about a straight line, it's not so difficult drawing a straight line when you are preoccupied. From about the age of ten, when I learned how to write in Italic Script, keeping a straight line is second nature. Behold:
Text & Emails 004.JPG
Chances are forum members will remark about my handwriting, but look at how each line is symmetrical. I do it without thought, it's probably down to practice but I can never remember when I didn't use some aid or other.

Technology has really overtaken me. I have a scanner that doubles up as a photocopier, yet I am totally useless at copying something, then storing it in my computer's memory, in order to reprint it in places like here. Instead, I photograph it and reproduce the photo image. Such an incompetent am I.
 
Remy said:
I've wondered this question myself. I too can hardly draw stick people. I can do some crafting, mainly by following a pattern. I did alter a scarf pattern from Ravelry and a number of people have favorited my project linked to the pattern. I'm so surprised at this.

I have just had to accept what I can do. I'd so love to knit a hat in fair isle with deer and trees but I don't think I'll ever have the talent to do so.
Click to expand...
All you can do, is try. 🙂
 

Back
Top