I completed “Time to Fly” on May 28th, 2020.  Despite the uncertainty around us: COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, ongoing racial issues and sheer duplicity of our elected officials – I have had this internal feeling that it was finally time to spread my wings.

Over the last year I have been steadily working on these bird drawings, each one representing a snippet of my life. I have been wading through my feelings all the while I’ve been working on my skills.  I have been trying new things. Mixed media and bright colors are being added to the mix. Slowly and methodically creating and creating more.  

But just now, as strange as the times are around me, I feel the need to take a leap of faith.  

In July, I submitted samples of my artwork to the Artist’s Gallery in Virginia Beach.  We met, and they have wall space to display some of my drawings.  It seems like a big step to me; it somehow solidifies the idea that I’m really doing this – I’m investing in this dream of making money from my artwork a reality. 

Outlier Wannabe 

I’m a big fan of the works of Malcolm Gladwell.  In his book Outliers he explains the 10,000 Hour rule. If you don’t know, it’s the concept that you can master anything if you practice a task for roughly 10,000 hours. 

If you Google this – you will find A LOT of people hate this simplified concept.  I personally, like it.  I like the idea that if I put the work in…. I can attain my goal. However, when I hit 40, I didn’t decide to become a concert violinist (from my perspective, unattainable) I wanted to become an artist. It may be the fact that there is already a wide range of trailblazers have already done it that I’m feeling, “Why not me too?” 

I’ve kept this rule in the back of my mind… and I would humbly calculate I’m at the 6,000 hour mark. (13 years, 52 weeks, estimated average of 9 hours per week= 6,084)

I’m getting there

At 6000 hours, I’m feeling more confident.  If we swing back to the bird analogy- I’m standing at the edge of the nest stretching my wings.  Sure, when I finally launch, I could crash on the ground below, or flap around for a bit and then run into a window, LOL – but there is this underlying feeling…. optimism and joy. When I close my eyes, I can imagine the leap – my wings spreading wide and catching the breeze that ruffles my feathers. Exhilarating!

Poetry Speaks to Me

I’m also a big fan of American poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar:  born on June 27, 1872 to freed slaves from Kentucky. He became one of the first influential Black poets in American literature, and was internationally acclaimed for his dialectic verse in collections such as Majors and Minors (1895) and Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896). During these challenging political times one of my favorites has come to mind:

Sympathy

by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;   
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,   
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!

I think longing is a universal feeling. We have to remember that prayers, no matter their shape are sometimes answered. Ah, me!