I began serious involvement in the arts at the age of nine. Prior to this, I was limited to the rudimentary studies provided by my elementary school teachers. And I must say, those were some of the most inspired elephants-that-look-like-big-rock-drawings ever. Had I not gained the support of my Aunt C., who recognized the elephant in the big black and gray mess before her as well as my talent for finding realism in the abstract, I would probably still be drawing stick figures.
C. Bradford is not my aunt by blood. Merely by association has she become a member of my family just as so many of my grandmother’s friends and tenants had before. My grandmother’s three-family home has always been something like a closed community. Everyone in the house is invited to the Christmas parties and other holiday celebrations.
One holiday, I forget which as they are all clustered as one big party in my mind, my aunt came over to me with a bag and simply said, “This is for you.” When I opened the bag, I found inside an assortment of arts and craft materials – needles and thread for cross-stitching and watercolor paints (the kind in a tube!) with a brand new pad and paintbrushes. My grandmother started complaining immediately.
“Why did you give her all of that to mess up my house with?”
“Gale, she will be doing this in my house.”
I was beaming. Over the next five months I studied intensely and decided that I finished the needlepoint projects too quickly and focused more and more on the watercolor. Around this time, I determined that watercolor would be my favorite medium.
Over the next several years, I continued to visit my aunt’s apartment to be surrounded by her small pieces of artwork and her quilts and posters from when she was in the opera. It is my own safe haven, a small place of solace where my mind is able to roam but I am still able to get things accomplished. I am allowed to paint in my grandmother’s apartment now but I like Aunt C.’s hole in the wall much better.
In high school, I studied art all four years. In my junior year, I had a surplus of classes and when asked whether I would continue to sing in the chamber choir or draw in a classroom, the choice was obvious. Do not misunderstand me; I am more than capable of carrying a tune or two. However, the more sensible option, in the world we live in, art will provided more open doors than being a vocalist where one can be exploited on all sides.
This is why I decided, as an incoming ‘freshwoman’, pursuing a double major in English and Art would not be a completely unreachable aspiration. It is my hope that my degree in Art will help me with my future career in the publication and editing field at magazines and other major publications. Later on in my life, I hope to teach English and use what I learned in Art as a teaching and cultural aid to enrich my students learning experiences through literature and art expression.
