Painting Was An Interest of Mine

 I wrote my first poem in high school (1962-1966) using green ink with a fountain pen that had refillable cartridges.  I did not get serious about writing poetry until 1972 when I was discharged from the military and returned to college.  

By then, I was married with a daughter and I would drive to McDonalds every morning before class and sit in a seat in the corner away from people and write for an hour while drinking a couple cups of coffee.  At that time, McDonalds had the best coffee in town.

In the late 70s and early 80s, I got involved with painting with oils and acrylics and while I had never had any lessons, I tried to teach myself what I needed to know which was not much.

Somewhere around the 1980s my mother was talking about putting up wall paper that had a green forest scene and without thinking, I told her that I could paint her wall for her and save her some money.  Of course, trying to stay with her original green forest theme, I purchase only green paints.

My trees weren't bad and they flowed freely but it was obvious when looking at the artwork on the wall, it was done by an amateur and not a professional.  Still my mother was happy with what I had done, because I had done it...  and, my father did not express any personal comments that would conflict with what she wanted to believe.

I continued painting for a few years after that but when I went to East TN in 1990, my focus on painting had ended and I concentrated on writing poems and opinion articles that I published on LinkedIn.

I've always wanted to return to my painting...  not to take lessons or anything...  but to just play around with something that I have always enjoyed doing.