THE ODD BALL

I was the second child born in a family of three girls (+ one boy who came along 10 years after my younger sister).  What they say about the middle child is true.  I was the one who was different. 

I was raised on a working cattle ranch, way down a rocky dirt road about 6 miles from the nearest town, New Ulm, Texas.  That is where my mother and father were both born, and where both sets of my grandparents lived. 

My older sister mostly stayed to herself, reading (and I do not know what else, as there was no telephone or TV) in her room.  My younger sister was the tomboy.  She was the one who loved to ride a horse, help my dad with the cattle, and basically lived outside.

The one thing my younger sister and I had in common is that we both loved to fish.  My Mom would give us a large mason jar with a lid (we punched holes in the top), and I would grab the straw kitchen broom, heading outside to get to work catching our bait.  We had free range outside our house to a field of large grasshoppers (and way too many sticker burs).  They were everywhere, it seemed.  All I had to do was watch for a large grasshopper to land, and then ‘whop’ I would slam the broom down on top of it.  Gently pulling the broom back, my sister was there waiting with the mason jar, to grab the stunned grasshopper.  That little technique worked probably 8 out of 10 times.   Eventually we had a jar full of ‘tobacco spitting’ grasshoppers.  We would head just over the hill, with our cane poles to the ‘tank’ where our parents let us fish.  It was a creek fed pond where we caught many a blue gill and a few bass each summer.

When I was in the third grade, my teacher suggested to my mother that I take art lessons. That was just not feasible for my family, and we lived so far away from the nearest larger town, Brenham, Texas, where that would have been possible.  So, I never was able to enjoy the passion of making art, until I was in high school.  I took two years of art and loved it.  That was 1973-1975.

Fast forward to 2006.  Did that make you dizzy?  It did me.  I attended my first art retreat, in Hampton, Virginia.  My world opened up so wide, I almost fell like Alice, into a deep winding hole.  It was magic.  I found what I had been searching for since the 3rd grade!  My artistic life began.  The one I had dreamed of.  I dipped my toe into the waters of jewelry, mixed-media, and a bit of artistic journaling. 

In 2010, I began teaching jewelry classes.  I loved to use vintage jewelry in my designs, so my style was mostly of the assemblage nature.  I learned how to use and teach cold connections in my pieces, sharing that style to many students from Texas to California to Virginia.

I have moved on since then, teaching metalsmith classes to many eager students.  It has been a pleasure and a privilege to enjoy this journey.  I have met so many amazing ladies (and some gentlemen too) along the way.  Many friendships have been born. Many remain to this day.

I have always been different.  Today, different is good.  Different is joy and peace and love all rolled into one.  This odd ball has finally found her place.  And it feels good. Really, really good.