Free modern art sculpture
Free modern art sculpture
After high school, I attended a little community college in town. Had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. After a couple of semesters, I received a letter from the school telling me I had been there long enough that I needed to choose a major.
And I was clueless.
I knew I didn’t like math. Too many dang numbers. And they never end. And they can add in letters to throw you off.
I had taken Algebra I & II in high school and Mrs. Lowery had been my teacher. I think she had five kids and it seemed one or another was in every grade at the school. She was a mom first. She was a teacher first. When you think about it that’s pretty much the way it is being a mom. You’re always teaching.
I was on the college track and had all of my credits on schedule to graduate early my senior year. I’d be out by Thanksgiving. But…. back in the spring of my junior year, it was a little more than iffy that would happen. I had my two years of French, a bonus year of Spanish, my science requirements, electives, Algebra I, geometry, and was finishing up Algebra II that spring.
All on track…. if I made at least a C. I had a D+ .
The last day of class, Mrs. Lowery called each of us up to her desk and told us our semester grade. I knew mine before I ever heard my name. I also knew I’d be killing a whole year waiting around for this semester of math to repeat the next spring.
“Susan,” she said, “you’ve been a good student. You’ve asked questions. You’ve turned in all of your homework and you worked on extra practice sheets.” She paused because she knew I had everything ready to graduate in the fall and we both knew my grade point average. “But, darling, you just don’t get it. I don’t know if you’ll ever get it. You have a D+. So . . . for all of your work, I’m going to give you a C for effort.”
I love Mrs. Lowery.
And I graduated at Thanksgiving.
Then I get that letter demanding I decide a major. OK. How about art? I can’t ever get that wrong. After all, it’s my interpretation. It’s my inspiration. It’s my ideas. My creation. And there’s only 3 basic colors. How hard can it be?
It was great! I had fun. We sculpted in clay. Chiseled in wood. Built large pieces out of wood pallets and scraps. Painted in oils and acrylics. Drew in pencil and charcoal. Screen printed.
I made As in the classes. I won a competition for a dreadfully unattractive painting of machinery and bolts. $25! Fifty shades of gray with one raspberry bolt. Betty still has it hanging in the hall going down to the basement. Only a parent’s love would keep it. But no one ever sees it. She’s also smart. A fitting place for it.
I still have a couple things I made. The black and white picture you see below is a screen print I made in college I called Porch Shadows.
I found something I enjoyed. But, life comes along and when you’re young you don’t always make good decisions. I married this boy I’d been dating about a year. The ex you’ve heard me refer to.
We’d known each other since the toddler’s class in the Sunday school department at our church. We’d been in youth activities, VBS, choir, and anything else they had through the years. I knew where his parents sat on Sunday morning and he knew where mine sat. It’s safe to say we knew each other pretty well.
I did finish the college courses and get my associate degree. And we had a lovely wedding. Two kids showed up for the starring rolls. One old lady in the church said, “It was a spiritual experience.”
Well, not spiritual enough. He developed zipper trouble and a serious case of narcissism.
But I had put aside my enjoyment of art and college for marriage and a job.
Today, My Guy has helped me create a project room upstairs. I have a work bench, drafting table (although I don’t know how to draft), and all my supplies. Right now the floor is covered in seashells for a mirror I’m working on.
This past summer, we went to the beach for a few days and I found a large piece of sea sponge. Large for the North Carolina coast anyway. I picked it up and tossed it in the car for our ride back home.
I propped it on the bookcase until I could decide what to do with it. I thought about incorporating into the shell mirror. It was too large for that.
Here’s what I did:
The marble base I got from a granite countertop company. They cut a piece from a scrap and polished it for me. He offered it to me for free, but I felt bad about that. He’d worked on it about 20 minutes. I gave him $15 for his trouble.
All I did was glue it together. I put four little silicone bumpers on the bottom so it won’t scratch the surface underneath.
It turned out so nice, I’m sorry I just tossed it in the car. I broke a couple of the twigs.
A modern sculpture practically free!
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