"Paint, dreams, and dandelion fluff….isn’t that what life is made up of?"
Some days it is what keeps me going.
I have primarily been an acrylic painter from the age of fifteen. Always having a love for beautiful things, nature and Claude Monet art!
You could find me painting on anything and everything, including my personal hand held peach colored push button phone. (That’s a mouthful)
With the love of the beach and tropics in my soul, I chose to paint a flamingo with a palm tree on my phone. It simply was too plain for me, functional, but plain. Not to mention that it looked like a design faux pas against the 1970’s orange carpet of my bedroom.
I bought that phone myself so I felt I had the liberty to paint on it.
(I wish I still had that phone for the fun of it)
When my mother saw it she just smiled and gjggled. She always would remark how talented I was or how clever I was. In her heart she was elated with my artistic gift but I know the practical side of her probably didn’t like me painting on certain things.
We were taught to take care of our belongings and if it was broke, fix it. So I think a small part of her thought “we don’t paint on phones”. LOL. Sounds silly I know, but she never discouraged my artistic gift.
I have to say talking on a decoratively painted phone made my conversations as a teen all that more fun! Not to mention lifted my spirits on those long cold Ohio winter days.
TEEN DAYDREAMING
As a teen that loved art, music, culture, and fashion, you could find me reading art and fashion magazines from Italy and France.
Anyone ever heard of TAXI design magazine or Elle Decor Italia?
That was where I would get lost. Taking in the newest art, fashion and design, trying to blaze a path of new or cutting edge art or fashion in small town America. I believed that I was a trend setter. I shopped at different places than most of my friends. Our closest mall was thirty miles away so you can imagine what an event it was for me to go. My favorite stores in the eighties were Express and Banana Republic and you could find me wearing K Swiss tennies and Jordache Jeans, with a swatch watch on a casual day. I was cool! Lol. 😎
As well you could find an assortment of Monet, Ansel Adams, and Escher artwork gracing my walls, along with my own work.
( I tried to locate a photo of one of my earliest works but it is MIA right now. It was inspired by Monet)
I would dream of the day that I would travel the world, paint amazing pieces of fine art, design my own fashions and interior decor. I would often day dream of strolling through Rome, Florence, or Paris and painting plein-air on the squares or Tuscan countryside.
I reflect back on those dreams and think ‘did they float away on the wind of dandelion fluff?'
WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?
How has thirty years gone by?
I joyfully can say that those dreams are still alive and well today, thirty years later.
The beautiful thing about that is that the dandelion fluff is actually seeds being carried on the wind only to land and be planted again.
Metaphorically my dreams may have been carried away by the winds of life for a time but I can say that the seed is still very much in my heart and growing into fullness and maturity.
Paint, dreams and dandelion fluff….isn’t that what life is made up of and isn’t it what keeps us going some days?
Funny how some things come back around as your deepest desires decades later.
I am now seeing the fruit of my labor over the last several years and my dreams coming to life. I don’t believe that God would have given me these gifts and talents along with the desires only to leave me hanging. It is up to me to continue to cultivate my gifts, connections and dreams, showing Him that He can trust me with what He has for me. He won’t give it to me if I don’t want it nor if I’m not working for it.
PAINTING THE PROMISE!
At this point in my life I am painting for purpose, painting for joy, painting for peace and helping others along the way. I will continue to paint and create collections that magnify the Promise and Glorify God.
It is still a great desire of mine to have my own line of fabric and branded high end items one day, allowing me to cross over into the design or fashion world. All derived from my painting inspirations.
Even more importantly, I have to ask myself, who has He given me my gifts and talents for?
Myself and Him of course, but what about the others that I am cultivating my gifts for?
Those that He will put in my path to bless, to teach, to inspire, encourage, and empower. Too often times we think about ourselves and how our gifts can serve us and bring us wealth. There are others that need you to cultivate and use your gifts! You may be the only one who reaches their heart. You may be the answer to their dreams or more importantly prayers. Maybe the wealth you gain from your gifts and talents are supposed to help fund charities or an orphanage? Whatever the case, we were made to learn and glean from others, then pour it back out.
PAINTING WITH PURPOSE
I have to ask myself, Am I falling short in using my gift to serve others.?
I recently started an online painting class on Mondays over at my Dionne White Art facebook page. It’s been some time since I taught and I am loving it, actually I crave it.
Am I doing this for me? Yes and no.
It fuels me to converse and commune with others as well as teach others what I know, it also gives me continual practice of my skills.
I love to pour into people and teach people, helping equip and encourage them, and I can do that by teaching them. I thrive off of it!
Nothing tickles me more than to see someone create something from an inspiration or teaching I've given them. To receive confirmation of your gifts is extremely satisfying and validating.
I may not be everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to personality, subject matter or teaching style but those that I do impact bless me tremendously.
REFLECTIONS
I think back to that fifteen year old girl talking on her peach flamingo phone and who taught herself to paint for peace of mind and fulfillment, hoping to make it big one day in the art world. I was always hoping ‘to be somebody’ that would change the design world and walk the streets of Italy and France.
Thanks to technology, here I am now gaining friends and a following from all over the world. The times may have changed but the dream of that fifteen year old girl from Northeast Ohio is still very much alive.
Now that I am older and can see the purpose in it all more clearly it makes me want it even more. Not for my own fame or fortune but to better my life, my family's life and the lives of others that my gift may touch.
I hope that my stroll down memory lane today has inspired you to think of the dreams that might have drifted away on dandelion fluff.
Can you recall them?
The seeds are still there.
Take a moment to close your eyes, feel the warmth of the summer breeze on your face as you recall dreams of years gone by.
See where they may have blown away.
Instead this time of letting them go, catch them, and cultivate them.
Dare to dream again.
(Dionne in her home studio in Anderson SC where she does her live Mini Masterpiece Monday classes)