Posted by Gracie2 on November 1, 2002, at 19:52:22
In reply to Hi, Grace: Welcome to Social!, posted by BeardedLady on October 29, 2002, at 5:18:55
Hi Beardy-
I've lived most of my life here in St. Louis. Moved here when I was 12 (from Arkansas), joined the Army when I was 18, moved all over the place for the next 7 years, including 2 years in Germany. I lived in Massachusetts for awhile after I got out of the Army, moved back to St. Louis (after my brother was killed, to be with my family - mistake!) - that was in 1986, and I've been here ever since.
I paint with acrylics, not much experience with oils. I've never made a living at it, but it does help bring in some extra money every now and then. I used to paint all the time, murals and large canvas, and I got pretty good at "faux" finishes. I'm not particularly sociable and terrible at selling myself, so much of my work was done at the houses of friends and family, for the cost of materials and maybe a bottle of good wine. I found it enjoyable and I didn't mind.Ten years ago, I was working at Shriners' Childrens' Hospital (an orthopedic unit) when the hospital underwent a major renovation. Most of the radiology department was sealed off from the construction for several months by temporary walls. Since the children waited for their x-rays in this dismal background, I brought in a large set of markers and started coloring the walls. The artwork turned out to be such a hit, I was asked to paint murals in the new hospital. Naturally, most of the artwork was in the new radiology department. One x-ray room has a jungle mural, one x-ray room has carousel horses, and the wall outside the rooms is a mural of outer space. I also did an "underwater" mural in the operating room waiting area. Because the walls in the "brace shop" (orthotics and prosthetics) waiting room were wallpapered, they asked me to paint a picture for them. I did a life-size canvas of Superman to hang in their waiting room, and they were so thrilled that they took me out for dinner. I also did a canvas for Occupational Therapy.
A couple of years later, I left Shriners and moved on to what I thought were greener pastures.
I had been wondering whether my pictures had been taken down and my murals painted over. So my friend was very excited when she called to let me known about the picture in the Wash U. journal with one of my murals in the background.In the last three years, partly because of the loss of some people I loved dearly, I started on a dramatic downhill slide. Without going into more grisly detail, this culminated with the police taking me to the hospital so I could be admitted to a mental ward. I stayed there for a couple of weeks and was discharged with a fistful of prescriptions for psychiatric medications. I quit painting and did not even think of painting
for another year. The year after that I did attempt some painting, but couldn't concentrate long enough to finish anything. Finally, at a crafts show that one of my friends had dragged me to, I picked up a small painted box and thought,
"Hmmm, I could do this. I could do better than this." And that's how I started painting small wooden boxes. They don't require the level of talent and time that a large canvas does, and I have two friends - one in the Poconos and one in Arizona - that own artsy stores, and they sell my stuff for me.Beardy - well, you asked! You can see how detailed this is, which is why I thought that it would not be interesting to the majority of people on PSB. I am also convinced that I lost interest in painting because of the large amount of Depkote that I was taking at the time, and I'm very interested in the reaction that psych meds
have had on the creative inspiration in other artists. This may have a place on PB but again, it would not apply to the majority.
-Gracie
poster:Gracie2
thread:31761
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021022/msgs/31915.html