My suggestion to anyone who wants to become an artist is to just jump into it and be creative everyday. There are many things you can do: draw, paint, take photographs, build things, cut and glue things together, work with clay, glass, yarn, fabric, all kinds of stuff. One of my friends makes things and buries them for a few months. Then he digs them up to see what they look like. Your art can be whatever you want it to be.

Taking art classes can teach you a lot, but you can be an artist without a formal education. Your local library and book store will have art books that can teach you to draw, paint, or construct things. As a kid, I painted with watercolors all the time; I built lots of strange things with Legos, and I also loved Playdough and food coloring.

Today, I try to work on an art project everyday. I always have at least one painting I am working on, as well as drawing and constructing pictures for new books, or working on stained glass projects. One of my newest art works is making abstract, mosaic tiles out of broken glass & china.

Never be afraid to try new things! If something doesn't work, you can learn from your mistakes. Some of my best projects are those that looked terrible to begin with, but after working on them more, they turned out very good. Besides, mistakes can be interesting and exciting in their own way.

You can make a point to do lots of different things; this is how you can discover what type of art you really enjoy. Experiment with drawing or painting pictures about your own experiences. Take photographs of your family, friends, & pets. You can try fun ideas like getting really close, such as just take a picture of their nose. Maybe draw a picture of half their head.

Most of all have fun & experiment and you can find the artist in you.

Michael Nordenstrom

pelebook@yahoo.com