Merry go Round

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women as they link hands around the world and tell you a little about their lives in art and craft.

Today is the first time we have this feature in our blogs. As a group of 8 women from all over the world, we have got together in what would constitute an example of peaceful idea exchange and diplomacy, and agreed to come to our blogs once a month and share a bit more about ourselves.
We choose a question and all of us have to answer it in our blogs. It will be very interesting to read what each of us has to say, taking in account how much our lives and crafts differ.

This months question:

What was your journey to your art/craft?

My journey has been long. I started to show interest in arts in general when I was a little girl. So my parents signed me up to every workshop there was in town: drawing, ceramics, puppet making, music...
As I grew older, in my teen years, I basically stuck to ceramics. I dont know how much I learnt or did in those years but then that group of people I used to see once a week at the class, was my second group of friends, another type of friends away from my school friends, and that felt special.
When I left town and moved 1000km away to go to University, arts seemed to dissapear from my life for a while. First couple of years of uni I spent, I think, every waking hour with my nose glued to a book... or running to a class or a study group. I think the urgency of the examns and this new life meant that there was no time for anything else... and I ignored my "calling". Deep down inside I think I would have loved to join the Fine Arts School and study something there, but in a family of laywers, Ingeneers and doctors; arts are a hobby, not a job ... so in my head it didnt really fit the chance of studying some form of fine arts to develope it into a job later.
After a couple of years I started to draw again, took a couple of workshops on photography (right before digital era, so all those tricks for the speed and shutter went unused once I got a digital reflex).
In the year 2000 I thook 3 months off and came to Europe on vacations (Im Argentinean, south America). Whilst in Firenze, Italy (talking about art, uh!?) I met this dutch man who a couple of months later, was ringing on my bell in Argentina, surprising me and asking me to marry him. So I packed up and moved to The Netherlands.
For the first 3 years here, arts were reserved just for my free time... a museum here and there, sketching at home, playing "Pollock" in the garden with big canvases... but not much more exploration.
After the birth of my son 2 years ago, and my decission to stay home for a few years with him, I joined an Atelier to further my "education" in ceramics. Further or really begin it! I also joined a 6hour workshop on hand felting... and I was hoocked!
Ceramics and wool have been a constant in my life. And as I immerse myself more and more into the craft world, and pay more attention to what I always really would have liked to do with my life, be an artist; I learn new tricks, discover new mediums of expression... and ways of expressing it.
And the fun is just beginning. So, the journey took 32 years... since I was born. I now know that this is what I like, what makes me happy and what I want to do with the rest of my life. And Im just starting...


Please, do visit the blogs of the other women who are posting today about this very same thing in their blogs. They are:

http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com
http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com
http://lilypangart.blogspot.com
http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
http://easterya.blogspot.com
http://halfanacreblog.blogspot.com
http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com
http://blog.glamasaurus.com