This Article Will Awaken the Creative Spirit Within You!

Do you remember your first encounters with the magic and joy of creative self-expression? Or, perhaps are you still waiting for that moment to arrive? For some it begins in early childhood, others consider themselves to be “late bloomers”. Either way, this article is meant to awaken or rekindle that creative spirit within you.

In this presentation you will read about artists’ first experiences with creativity. They include artist members and thoses from art history, including Picasso and one of his first drawings he created as a child.

Our artist members are supremely inspired and erudite, and each one has a special and unique artistic vision. I asked artist members to describe a memorable experience that ignited the artistic spark within them. I wanted to know, “When did you first get started as a creative person?” I know you will be enlightened by reading their answers, as artist members share their first experiences with creativity.

Please visit the artists’ pages and their art websites. Contact them directly to purchase their artwork. And, let us know, in the comment section below how their words resonated with you.

Janice Phelps Williams

“My earliest memories were of trying to make something out of whatever was close at hand: mud, newspaper, boxes. In elementary school a teacher told me: ‘You don’t have to draw all the branches on the tree.’ I disagreed. In high school, Catherine Lotze, art teacher, took me under her wing. She encouraged a quiet girl who missed weeks of school from multiple surgeries. I subscribed to American Artist magazine, which contained ads for summer workshops. At 17, I begged my parents to leave me 7 hours from home to attend a 2-week adult watercolor camp. Mom had concerns. Dad said ‘Yes.’ I was the youngest student. The teacher was William Gerhold. Mrs. Lotze and Mr. Gerhold pointed me in the right direction. At university, Professor Dan Rohn encouraged students by taking us for walks in the woods, pointing out various trees. He never said one couldn’t draw all the branches. Never underestimate the influence of a teacher.”

Sandra Belitza-Vazquez

“I remember loving going on school trips all over New York City while in elementary school. The first visit was to the United Nations Secretariat Building, which was still relatively new at the time of our visit. To me, it was a majestic, beautiful, and almost sacred place that stood for world peace. I had my Kodak Brownie camera with me so I could record all that I saw. After seeing the developed photographs, I was hooked on photography FOREVER! Photography became a way of helping me understand and remember all that I saw in the world.”

Judy Hatlen

“My interest in art was ignited at the age of three, by my mother, who showed me how to draw stick figures. I then began to teach myself to add clothing and facial features, and to draw the figures in various poses as a way to tell stories. From then on, my parents called me “the little artist”, because I spent most of my time drawing.”

Famous Artists and Their Early Creations

Artemisia Gentileschi painted a scene from the Book of Daniel when she was only 17 years old. This earliest example shows outstanding insight and maturity for a young artist.

It has been written that Pablo Picasso was only 9 years old when he created his earliest painting, shown here. It shows the idealized figure of a horseback bullfighter and is an image the artist would return to throughout his long career.

Salvador Dali created “Landscape Near Figueras” before he reached his seventh birthday. He once quipped “At the age of six, I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.”

Georgia O’Keeffe was 14 years old when she made a realistic drawing of a plaster hand as a student at Sacred Heart Academy, in Wisconsin. Later, she won a still-life competition during her time at college for her painting of a dead rabbit and copper pot. Although this marked the beginning of her life as a painter her subject matter changed dramatically.

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