The basics: My name is Robyn, I'm the baby of 8 kids, and I have the best parents a girl could ask for. I had a good childhood. Nothing crazy traumatic or anything like that. I grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm so grateful for my whole childhood.
That's me, wearing the goose dress. Like I said, I'm the youngest of 8. The two other little kiddos in the pic are my niece and nephew. :D
Anyway- why is this relevant? Well, as you can see, there's a decent sized gap between me and my next oldest sister (on the left of my dad in the photo). My parents were awesome. I didn't have all the angry feelings towards my parents that so many of my friends during high school did. However, one things my parents definitely were was practical. I was undiagnosed ADHD (I wasn't diagnosed until I was 26ish), so my head was always a bit in the clouds. At our house, we did the important things first. The cleaning, the math, Gospel studies, and service were most important in our house, as they should be. My parents appreciated beautiful things, art, and music, but music was the most understood of all the arts. My mom played piano (I took lessons for a while) and sang. Our house was often filled with lovely music. Marvin Goldstein, Michael McClean, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Andrew Lloyd Weber were all very familiar names there. Another thing that dwelled in our home was the Spirit. My parents house always has been and still is a safe place to be.
Miraculously, even with my ADHD, I always got good grades. Somehow between hours on the phone, chatting with my friends (Yahoo Instant Messenger, baby!!), and swooning over almost every boy that I ever met, I was still able to manage As and Bs. I honestly don't know how that happened. One thing I didn't have much of a chance to explore was the arts. I always wanted to take drama, but the drama teacher at our high school was known for being anti-Mormon. The main art teacher was his wife. I did take a drawing class in high school and it was a lot of fun. I have fond memories of that class. Even music wasn't something I participated much in. I didn't have the breath control to play wind instruments, the patience to practice piano, or the voice capabilities to sing, even in the general school choir.
This is me, far left, my Sr year. The other kid are more nieces and nephews (I have lots of them and they are freaking amazing people!!!) Also, Minnie Mouse.
I don't want you to feel like I missed out on everything, though. I had a LOT of fun those years. I had all kinds of friends, participated in Jr Miss, Service clubs, church stuff, yearbook, and all around just enjoyed my life. I still sketched now and then (mostly cartoons), checked out almost every "How to Draw" book from the library, and soaked in the music- occasionally even at the piano. ;) I got to the point where I could draw hands decently (they are the only thing I could really practice with confidence, after studying my own hands and being mildly obsessed with ginormous rings).
After graduation, I headed to Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. Who knew that this is the place that would change my entire life?! Some of my roommates become my very best friends, and of course- I met the man of my dreams!
Me and Roger, once we were engaged. Dang, we were young!
Now, those two things (the roommates and Roger) don't directly tie to art, but bear with me- it's easier to tell the WHOLE story. I finally took a drawing class, once I was married and pregnant with my first kid. Problem with that drawing class is that it pretty much just told me that I was wrong and every way of drawing was wrong. I hated that class. It took all the joy out of creating with my hands. I feel like I could have abandoned all art forms then and there. Except, Roger and I took a really fun art history class together that showed me that even if I couldn't create monumental pieces, there was beauty in every aspect of life. Turns out, I love Jackson Pollock paintings as much as any of the others. I learned not to close off my mind to enjoying art, even if it wasn't a talent of mine.
Luckily, I discovered other talents. Because of my ADHD, I could easily think outside the box and memorize things. I loved using my hands for things like crocheting and making small projects. I found I could paint, but only with acrylics and only on very tiny surfaces.... or so I thought.
