If you ask me if I can paint, I’ll tell you no.

But it isn’t true.

Ask me if I’m an artist, I’ll shake my head.

But it isn’t true.

I see pictures in my mind, my eyes a camera to freeze the slant of light coming through my window, the odd placement of a torn shirt in treetop, the wind blowing through a cornfield, my daughter in a crazy self-picked outfit flying down the road on her bike.

My words describe these pictures in the stories I write, wrestle down that one feeling and pin it to the mat. Even in my conversations, the right word is important, and sometimes only a word-picture will convey the idea in my head.

YOU are an artist, you with your art classes, composition knowledge, knowing how to use and pronounce “gesso” (or even just knowing what it IS). I can’t be an artist. How presumptuous of me to even think I could be, in any medium, in any form.

Wait, though.

What if…?

If we strip away the mystery, the intimidation, the pressure to make something that looks like something else, the ideal of perfection, the definition of it being someone with one ear wearing a beret, we are all artists.

We’re just too fearful to pick up a brush.

Do you consider yourself an artist in any form of the word? Don’t dismiss this idea – sit with it for a minute. Many different things can be a form of art…you might be an artist and not even realize it.

This is a linkup with Lisa-jo Baker (http://lisajobaker.com) and Five Minute Friday. Check it out and you’ll see all sorts of different posts. These short posts on Fridays are a fun habit I’ve gotten into.