Drawing by Pilar Catlin

PILAR! Artist Extraordinaire!

It all started in kindergarten. One of my pictures “ made it” to the wall of art. I knew I would be an artist one day. My mother, also Pilar Clinkscales is a fantastic painter. She has had her work in many local displays, and she use to enter all the duck stamp competitions. She won the turkey hunting stamp in Florida several years ago. I could brag about her forever.

Back to me, I’ve always enjoyed art. I found many different kinds of art.

I really took off when I discovered fiber arts. It started with macrame, then. WOW, what is that?!? A drop spindle…cool. I was making my own yarn! Then spinning wheel was next. Now, what to do with ALL those yarn balls? I taught myself how to knit and crochet. Had to buy books for that back then. Naturally, weaving came next. I had a huge 4 harness loom in my small living room for years. I love fiber arts! Felting? I can do that. So I bought more books. When I learned about needle felting, I went crazy. I can make felt sculptures, soon after, I learned to paint with wool. Now, all of these require different tools, several processes, hours of just preparing supplies. It’s a lot of work.

5 years ago my life changed. I’ve had multiple sclerosis since 1994. I was always able to recover from attacks. Unfortunately that changed. I still try, but I found it all exhausting, carding wool, warping the loom, etc…

Hmmm, what to do? (As in creating something) I used to draw, I picked up my old kit from high school. I discovered that I was pretty good. “The photo attached” was completed less than a year after I started drawing. I think I was able to capture the personalities of my subjects. (Of course they are very dear to me, so maybe it’s just me.)

I have the bad habit of trying to make it perfect, sometimes ruining my piece in the long run. I’ve only drawn from photographs. I can picture a new drawing in my head, but I am having difficulty transferring it to paper. I would love to be able to Really Draw. I just copy photos. I want to learn about composition, what postures do I want. I want to learn everything! I keep all of my emails from Drawing Academy in a special folder for future reference. I get a lot of good tips when you critique your students drawings. I’ve learned so much from the internet. I’ve probably seen, and follow every drawing or painting advice and tutorials. I feel like I’m so close, but just need consistent information and practices. I live off of social security disability, so I can’t pay the tuition to join.

I think everyone should vote for me so I can finally cross that hurdle and become an artist. Plus that portrait is pretty darn good for a beginner.