Talents

We all have talents.  Do you ever wonder where these talents come from, or wish you were talented at something that you're not?  I sure do.  I come from pretty artistic/crafty stock on both sides of my family.  There may be some great singers or dancers mixed in there too, but the arts and crafts are what stand out, I think.

My paternal grandmother is a very gifted painter.  She has done some beautiful, and award winning, pieces. She was also very much into ceramics and had her own kiln, so we got to make quite a few things, and she taught me how to do macrame.  I still have a ceramic cup that I painted when I was 10, but I don't remember many of the macrame knots anymore.  I spent a lot of time with Granny when I was growing up, and she often had a canvas on the easel.  She painted all kinds of things; ocean and wave scenes, forests, old houses and barns, mountains, and they were all beautiful.  When I was 12, I watched her  paint, from start to finish, a country scene that she entered into a local contest.  The weekend of the show, there were many beautiful works of art on display.  It was marvelous to me that people could take a blank canvas, some brushes and paint, and turn them into such beautiful things!  I was at the show with my grandmother for the entire weekend, and watched proudly as her painting was awarded Grand Champion!  Granny is now 94, and doesn't get to do much painting, but she still talks about it often.

My maternal grandmother was a gifted seamstress, made jewelry, and did cross stitch in the winter. When we were at her house for a visit when I was 9, she was crocheting an afghan, so I asked her to teach me to crochet. And she did.  She set me up with my own ball of yarn and a crochet hook, and showed me how to make a chain.  From there, she showed me how to turn around and keep stitching, using the chain loops I'd just made.  Crochet is a craft that I have done ever since, mostly in the winter.  I have made more afghans, scarves, hats, Christmas decorations, and dishcloths than I can count, all because my Grandma Rose spent a few minutes teaching me to crochet.  I'm sure she had no idea at the time the impact that lesson would have on my life!

But, I never mastered cross stitch.  I wish I had this talent, as I see pretty patterns all the time that I'd like to make.  I have tried off an on over the years, but have found out I don't have the patience for it.  To me, it is painstaking and tedious work!  No matter how much I'd like to be good at cross stitch, it just isn't my thing.  But Grandma enjoyed it, and here and there over the years, would give me some of her cross stitch pieces.  A couple of them won ribbons at the county fair, and I'm so proud to have them hanging on my walls! 

I have often wished I had the talent to be a painter, or a seamstress (I can sew, but it's not my favorite thing).  But I am thankful for the talents I do have, and the time I got to spend enjoying arts and crafts with both of my grandmothers.