Story and artwork from Ruth McCarthy

Whispers On The Breeze

Art has always softly called to me, it has whispered on the gentle breeze and beckoned me to come and immerse myself in the true beauty, joy and wonder it holds. My soul has always longed for me to be able to turn my attention to fully gain the skills and take the time to practice and learn how to express what needs to be completely brought to life in an artwork.

When I was at school art just seamed to come naturally to me but all the other subjects were much harder and these were the ones I felt I needed to apply my greatest attention to. I really didn’t know I could even be any good at drawing or painting until my art teacher the day I was to leave school said to me that one thing in my life I needed to do was to make sure I took more art lessons. I didn’t really understand what he meant because I never thought that art was really that important and the many drawings or paintings which I was exposed to did not in any way stir emotions within me to want to paint like those which I saw.

I live in Australia and it isn’t or wasn’t encouraged very much to give attention to artistic pursuits, so my future jobs were of course not related to art or artistic creativity. However through these jobs I was slowly brought to the feeling that they were suffocating me, that I was creative and needed to find a path where my creative abilities could flow. Of-course this is not an easy or quick path, to realise that drawing and painting was my souls desire. When I finally gave myself the permission to start to draw and paint I felt like this is where I was supposed to be, I lost myself and became present in the moment and was able to be completely me!

I don’t have any formal or semi-formal training in art, I have done one online course which brought me great frustration and this year I nearly committed myself to a Bachelors of fine art and visual culture degree but after looking through the detailed first terms course outline I requested a withdrawal. All these courses spend such a great amount of time trying to get students to be creative or think creatively, how to work on the other side of the brain (?) and produce craft things they don’t teach anything about drawing or painting really and this makes no sense to me. I have tried to follow their way of thinking or seeing however I naturally am a creative thinker and do see the world differently so there methods don’t really help me at all.

When I found the Drawing Academy I knew I had finally found what I had been searching for. Vladimir makes sense to me, I can follow what he says and the great Masters which are featured on the site with there amazing works are truly great works of art and beauty. I think it is so wonderful that Vladimir and Natalie would teach what they have learnt with the many people around the world who don’t have access to the training offered in countries like Russia.

As you can see from my artwork I have many challenges in art and sometimes I think that maybe this time of my life on earth I’m not meant to draw or paint maybe next time and then I will start when I’m young, but this is not possible because there is always a small soft voice that calls me to art and even though I might not be as great as I would so desire I can do the best that I can do. If I study and practice as much as I can for there needs to be art in this world that is truly beautiful, that one day the gods maybe tempted once again to walk the earth to look at these paintings. That the paintings and pictures may be able to open the world to that which lies beyond and that maybe the gods and man will communicate once again……This is my dream.

I would truly love to win this opportunity because I know that through studying at this Drawing Academy it will give me the skills and teach me the correct methods to learn and practice so I will be able to become the artist which I need to be. This is the only way which I will be able to learn the correct and tried methods of the Masters.

I home school my daughter so being an online course it gives me the flexibility to study, learn and practice when I can. I am also a single parent, by winning this competition it would greatly help me financially.

I would Love for people to vote for me because it would give me an opportunity which I didn’t think I would ever be given.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.