Over the years, I made some friends who were really good artists: amazing sculptors, painters, and photographers. I was always intrigued, and a little bit jealous, that they could create something so beautiful from the gray folds inside their head. I could only copy and regurgitate things...and very poorly at that. So, for decades, I just pushed aside the thought that I could create any kind of art.
One of the reasons I married my husband is because he is always so supportive of me and my crazy ideas. "Hey Bill, I wanna start a website that helps women microfinance their businesses." "Sure, honey. How can I help?" "Hey Bill, I think I want to be a certified yoga teacher." "Sure, baby. Let's look up teacher trainings together." So, when I approached him and asked him what he thought of me taking art classes, he fully supported it. He helped me look for classes in Budapest and we found one on Facebook. It was an art studio where one can go and take art classes, no matter what their level. I contacted the teacher, Agnes Szikra, and scheduled a weekly time to go.
The sessions were around 2 hours each and were located located in Buda, on the other side of the river from Pest. Billy, Des, and I would all take the tram over there and, while I was in class, bilssfully shading and concentrating and meditating, Des and Bill would go to the park. Each session, I would walk in to the room, my little wooden box that held all of my pencils and special gummy eraser in hand, eagerly excited to finish my piece or start a new one. I have never before been so excited to draw boxes, wheels, and cups.
And talking about Desmond, he and Agnes developed the most amazing relationship. Des can be a bit of a handful: at that age (3), he would growl at sweet, little old ladies who would say hi to him on the street or he would hide behind me when our friends would come over and visit with us. He's not the smiliest, nicest, friendliest kid on the block, that's for sure. But for some reason, he really opened up to Agnes and it wasn't like she was all preschool teacherish with him...on the contrary, she treated him like a normal person. And he loooooooved her. He would love going with me to art class when Billy was out of town. He looked forward to possibly talking to her at then end of the class when he and Bill would come and pick me up. It was a really sweet relationship and made me realize that I wanted to be super friends with my art teacher.
Agnes was such a wonderful teacher. I didn't know the extent of her talent untl we went to an exhibition of her work. I was floored. Look at her work and you will see why:
You guys, she's a painter...not a photographer. Those are paintings. Aren't they amazing? You could look at more of her amazing work HERE and HERE.
Over the course of the summer, we got to know each other during class and outside of class (she invited us over to her house for a delicious pepper and sausage dinner). I am so lucky to count her as a friend and as the source of my renewed inspiration to keep improving my artistic skills and to explore new ones.