Color Box of Intention

I have always wanted to be an artist. There were artists on my father's side of the family....we have the paintings to prove it....My grandmother on my mother's side dabbled in painting after she retired from teaching.... My mother in law paints lovely watercolors...and my daughter Kate was an art major in college and is truly a talented artist...



As a young girl, I did draw and paint some ....I am a sometime calligrapher (wedding invitations, etc.) and used to make cut and pierced lampshades to sell for a local shop....I do a little art journaling....occasionally try my hand at a bit of altered art and...well, that's about it....
I blame it on lack of time....I know that is a poor excuse....true artists always find the time...
but my career and family life didn't exactly leave much free time for personal artistic pursuits...
S0...lack of time.... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.....



Anyway.....I did find time to collect things through all of that.....and these are two artist's boxes that I found and bought over the years....



This box was purchased at a local antique show about twenty years ago....the seller was trying to impress me with the fact that it belonged to a renowned artist and illustrator of children's books who had once lived locally and passed away. I was not familiar with the artist and have since forgotten the name. At the time, however, I was enthralled with the box, its interesting contents, the obvious use it had seen and the mystique of the famous artist....



I imagined myself setting up my easel in a field of flowers....shaded by an old tree...sketching a scene and then dipping my brush into pots of wonderful colors, mixing them on this old wooden palette and creating a beautiful painting....



But I never got around to it.....in fact, over the years I have purchased quite a few art supplies and collected many and varied items to be used in my "art".....My son Dan once asked, "Mom when are you going to stop collecting stuff to use in your art and start creating art?"
I know I am going to start soon....I feel as if I am preparing... I'm getting ready....I have my area staked out for my "studio"....I have all sorts of supplies....and come the first part of next year my employer will be downsizing and I will be "retired"....then I will have time...then I will do art.



Kate reminds me that one doesn't "do" art....one creates art.....



Apparently the renowned artist's initials were A.M. .....
I AM going to do art soon.....