When I used to see the word Art I automatically saw drawings ,sculptures, Van Gogh, and famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa. Going through elementary school I showed little or no talent for artistic skill. I neither had the skill or the ambition for it. I can remember being in the fifth grade and still being scolded about not being able to color right!!

On the other hand I did have a thirst for books and was a very avid reader. If I had words in my hands I would read them. Although by the time I got to the seventh grade I wanted more!! I loved reading stories and learning from books but I wanted to be the nucleus or the center of a story or book. I wanted to direct where the words would flow and fit together like one giant puzzle.

There was just two tiny problems with that, I HAD NO CLUE HOW TO BE A GOOD WRITER and truth be told at the time school had killed writing for me. I wrote so much in school that I thought my supply of words was dried up. But in truth no one’s words are ever fully depleted. They are as inexhaustible as nature’s own winds are.

I started out by trying to write fantasy stories since they seem to be the most fun and you could just about do anything with them. The only problem was that a fantasy story can have no end to it unless you end it . As a person trying to create a story it is hard to set a limit and form a good storyline at the same time. After a while of trying this style of writing I ended up having a wastebasket full of papers that showed the writing of a frustrated person trying to find their way in the world of writing.

My first breakthrough was when I wrote a fictional story of a family getting a dog named Rocky. It was based on a true story from my life . I just added a couple of twists and turns and a tone that made it sound more like a fairy tale. After that I found that memoirs or true accounts of my life was what my writing nature thrived for . I learned to throw my emotion and voice onto a piece of paper and fit it with a storyline and plot.

I learned that to get those feelings that were the essence of my voice I would have to find an emotional wound deep in my heart and tear the scab off it. Those vivid memories and emotions made my writing come to life or at least to me they did. The shocking thing that I learned was that writing was an escape from my own mind!Sometimes our minds can be a little overcrowded. What with all those thoughts swimming up there. I have always thought and have always been told that I am no artist but what is an artist really? Many people think of it as the people who sculpt, paint or color . This, is in a way true but in another way wrong. The real definition in the Webster’s dictionary for artist is “A person practicing the fine arts of painting, sculpture, architecture, Literature, music, dance, or theater.” I have always thought that I would never find some thing that would allow me to be myself and express myself the way writing has. However, this doesn’t mean I have given up on reading, that is where I get my words from and learn from the great writers themselves. Writers are artists , their pens and pencils are their paintbrushes and their words are their paint. Writing is an art and one that is rewarding in every way possible. Ever since I was in elementary school I have always thought I would never be able to say “I am an artist” but now I can , and will, say I am a writer and can be proud of it!!

I have always looked at the word Art one-sided. Now when I see the word Art I envision dancers, actors, writers, music, and many other things. I have learned that in life you must look at things from more than one angle or you will never solve any problem or see the true brilliance of something beautiful such as a word. All things in life have more than one meaning . It is only a matter of how one perceives it. This I have learned from writing and I am just glad I have finally found the true artist within me.

“ we read to know that we are not alone” -C.S.Lewis
While many read to know that they are not alone, many also write to express themselves and to let others know that they are not alone. Writing connects people in so many ways. When one writes they let others see their true self. Writing is to me the true essence of Art but I am sure that painters, dancers and other types of artists would argue with me on that matter.

Art ,a word that at one point had sulked in the bottom of my heart and in the sorrows of my failures , now is at the top of my heart thriving and in the joys of my success. Now I can truly say “I am an Artist”