Back to what I love.....

I am so pleasantly surprised by the ability to return to what I love to do.  There are a lot of ways to explain that statement.... but the most recent thing I have been able to return to is the most amazing to me.  You will see what I mean when you read this blog entry.

I always wanted to be an artist.  I had 1 year of elementary art and no more than that til 7th grade.  My parents fought to get an art teacher in my school district, even though one of them has zero art skill or interest.  I figured I could not make it as "just" an artist so I became a teacher.  Getting my Bachelor of Art Education made me so happy!  I could do art AND work with kids - things I love dearly to this day.

I taught for 15 years.  Then I was no longer an art teacher and returned to my artistic roots.  I started doing mosaics just for fun at home, while I was trying to find other work.  Turns out I did not need to have other work because it never showed up.  I just kept getting more art and jewelry custom orders.  I am by no means rich in capital but I am rich in happiness, creation, and what I call "recess".  (Those of you who have a sense of playing when you work know what I mean by "recess".)

I have recently been able to return to mosaics, the one thing I thought I might not get to do often again.  Jewelry is easier to store and I need to remember that where I am living is not quite my permanent home yet so I need to keep space and creations in balance.  I love making jewelry and make some really cool things (I think anyway).  I enjoy it immensely! 

However, I have missed mosaics and 3-dimensional art.  I missed it so much I did some on the side just to make sure I did not ignore that skill and love.  I put it out as a "fun project" on my Facebook page, showed my friends, and just shared it lightly.  Now it is the one thing that is demanded the most of me!  Woo hoo!!!!  Talk about getting to returning to what you love to do....  so awesome!!!  I never thought I would be able to do that in such a strong way again.  Pleasantly surprised is not quite right but I think you get the drift.....

Now the mosaics I have created on birdhouses and little wooden birds leave my house as soon as I make them, sometimes being spoken for long before that.  Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!!  THAT is what makes mosaics so much easier to do.   It has been a great blessing and I am so grateful that I get to do these again and again.

What a cycle I have had and I love it all!!!  I wonder what love you have returned to when it did not seem likely....