Everything I can remember back to my very first memories, have to do with creating and color. I was very blessed to have been raised by an extremely artistic and expressive mother. She always encouraged my younger brother and I to see things with imaginative minds. I know her influence on me growing up was a huge component of why I see art in everything I do today.
In my life I been dabbled with almost every kind of art I could find. From acting to metals, choir to watercolor, wood burning to glass etching, painting to charcoal, wood working to chalk murals,...I think you get the point. So when I finally switched to a major in painting at Wayne State University in Detroit I really thought I had it figured out.
Then one day I realized I wasn't feeling fulfilled. I loved art and was excited to create something everyday but I had been putting so much pressure on myself to be the kind of artist I wasn't. I can produce stunning, realistic, large paintings on canvas to get into gallery shows, but that's not what makes me happy. Then I asked myself, "what does make me happy?"
One day I was spending some time painting random things around the house when I found a wine bottle, I thought WHAT A CUTE IDEA I WILL PAINT THIS WINE BOTTLE! My mind exploded with so many wonderful ideas for painting this simple piece of recycling I had just laying around. I made sports themed bottles, cute animal cartoon bottles, I even started posting them on Facebook and sure enough people had the same reaction as I did....HOW CUTE!
Once I started to realize I could make money selling my wine bottles I really got inspired. I started understanding that I loved working on non conventional surfaces. I painted benches, cigar boxes, rocks, and raw pieces of wood. It took me a while to give up the idea that I needed to be a gallery artist to be successful because that's what school had taught me. Opening up my ETSY SHOP was my next adventure. It is still a work in progress but I LOVE working on it every day. Listening to new YouTube videos on how to improve my photos or captions.
I want to hear your stories on how you found the Art you LOVE! Haven't found it yet?
WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR GET GOING AND FIND HAPPINESS!!!
Samantha Menzo
