Unexpected Gift

My KSU OLLI instructor must have seen a talent that I didn't know I had.  Working on my 3rd pencil drawing assignment in class, he came up behind me, looked over my shoulder and suggested "You really should consider drawing that scene in ink" (rather than completing it in pencil).  He didn't suggest that to any others.  It was only our second day of class.   Embarrassed by the attention, I declined, twice.  Finally he came around the room again, threw down his pen on my table and told me I could keep the pen if I would simply draw ink lines over top all the existing graphite lines!

Reluctantly I took up his challenge, and was startled by how bold and expressive my drawing suddenly became, especially after erasing all graphite pencil strokes. Without knowing it,  I was hooked.  

Previously I had no interest in art ... zilch!   From that day forward, I find myself looking at the world around me with 2 persistent questions:  "what's uniquely attractive about what I'm seeing?", and "how can I capture or recreate that beauty on a piece of paper?"

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