marker on notebook paper, circa 1978

In keeping with the childhood artwork theme I started yesterday, here is an ink drawing on notebook paper (I used to love those thin, every color of the rainbow markers!) that I did when I was about eight years old. My Mom dug it out and gave it to my daughter, who now has it hanging on her bulletin board in her bedroom as “inspiration”. It’s a picture of my Mom and Dad. You can see the “To: Mom From: Lisa” in the upper right corner, so I guess this was a gift! Dad is fly fishing, and Mom is flying a kite. We spent 1972 through 1979 living in North Carolina, where we did a lot of hiking, camping and exploring. I have LOTS of fond memories of my Dad standing in the middle of a river with his fishing rod, and my Mom sitting on a blanket on the riverbank with her favorite book. I would be sitting on a big rock in the middle of the river, turning over other smaller rocks to see what might squirm out from underneath, my absolute favorite thing to do. I was always hoping for a salamander! Or a crayfish would make me equally as happy. This was the ignition point for my love of nature. And of course, I liked to draw what I experienced, as most children do…

Would you look at this and say, “this is a future artist”??? Um, definitely not. Just goes to show you, practice does make perfect.