I don't know about you, but I can spend an entire day sitting quite contentedly in front of my computer. It's not a computer, it's a world. I can learn, create, teach, socialize, and entertain myself.

Then why do I feel so FREE and HAPPY and EXHILARATED when I get up, pull out my art supplies, and begin to make something by hand?

I want to run up to everyone...well, okay, not everyone ...but I want to grab people and say "Come with me, I promise you'll be glad you did!' and put paints and papers and brushes and pencils and pens and markers and all kinds of colorful stuff in front of them, and set them free to PLAY. And if they're hesitant, I'll show them how to add this to that here, try these and those there, and see where it takes them.

Recycled photo from my trip to Africa in the early '90s

Is creativity innate or learned? Both! A resounding BOTH! For most of my life, I was sure I didn't have a creative bone in my body. My attempts at sketching looked like a child's drawing at best. No big deal...I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. Then I took a trip to Africa, brought along a borrowed camera, and lo and behold came home with some pretty nice pix. On a whim, I decided to glue the photos onto notecards and give them to friends and family as holiday gifts. Everyone loved them...and so it began. Now I regularly recycle my photographs, both old and new, by transforming them as I incorporate them into one medium or another.

You can do it, too...come out and play!

Go Out and Play!