Dabbler

A new store in another town opened several months ago—Dabblers. It carries a bit of this and a bit of that. Art materials, knitting supplies, balsa airplanes, glass making materials—classes for all manner of dabbling. You can even rent a table for an hour to do your own art project. And while you're there—have lunch or coffee at their small eatery.


I understand dabbling since that's been my style since I first picked up a crayon. When I turned ten, I decided that I wanted to be an illustrator after listening to an artist who visited my class. My mother, always willing to encourage my pursuits in art, heard about a free art class for children 8—12. We traveled on the IND train down to Manhattan and then went to the museum. I'm not certain what museum, but I do recall the easels, paints and short lesson.


That day I switched from illustration to poster paint abstractions. That pursuit waned when my mother announced that a three room apartment couldn't handle an easel and large jars of paint.


My art pursuits fill my basement. At one point I wanted to create woodblock prints so I build a sturdy looking bench with a backboard to steady my board as I chiseled away. My next door neighbor gave me an old barn board and I created Don Quixote on his horse. Nothing after that triumph was worth the wood so I simply moved on to another medium.


At various points I've attempted to make money. When I received a small enamel kiln as a twelfth birthday gift, I immediately began the mass production of earrings, pendants hanging on rawhide strands, and enameled money clips. I sold the items to friends, relatives and to neighbors. Because I sold the jewelry for a few cents more than the tempered copper forms I used to enamel the items, I didn't make enough money to buy new materials.


When I lived in Maryland, collage caught my interest and I filled manila folders with pictures and letters. Because I lived in a neighborhood where Bible studies were more prevalent than Tupperware parties, I thought of creating some collages illustrating favorite lines from scripture.My first commission came from a woman who wanted a hellfire message on a three foot high board. We didn't agree on the type of pictures appropriate for the collage and my career selling collages fizzled.


What I don't have is a certain adhesiveness— I move from art project to art medium. Next week I'll be starting a collage course at a museum school. I expect it will be a mite more sophisticated than my first collages.


My collection of materials for this course awaits my first day and as always I have high expectations. This may be my medium—although , at the moment, I'm enamored with pouring watercolors. Before that it was...



And a friend of mine tells me that I'd love encaustics...