A new creative outlet

I have multiple hobbies in my life. Reading, of course as a library supervisor, books and reading are very important. I adopted my first dog at age 19 and began training her so dog training became part of my life. I learned to sew from my Mom and in college sewed all of my own clothes. My Dad taught me woodworking and one year I made my Mom a corner curio cabinet for Christmas. I came to drawing and painting when I was in my late 20s. I loved the idea of creating beautiful pictures. I started with simple graphite pencil and moved to colored pencil and then watercolor pencil drawings. Since I love dogs often my creations are of my dogs, or my friends' dogs. I expanded to flowers and I have even tried my hand at people and did a portrait of a friend's child.

When I was in my early 40s I started having serious pain in my knees and hands. Originally I thought I'd somehow injured myself, but I didn't know what I could have done. My hands were so painful I wasn't able to hold a pencil or a brush for any length of time. I was then diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and referred to a specialist. Rheumatoid arthritis is when your immune system attacks your joints; it can cause serious damage to your joints. It can be controlled with medication, but it's not curable. The disease hit my hands hard. I found I was avoiding completing projects because after I had spent an hour or so working, my hands would ache. That was a huge part of my creative outlet and it was gone.

Since I work in a library, I get to see a lot ofbooks come in and go out of the library. One day I was checking in some returned books and saw a book on creating collages. I checked it out and decided to give the new medium a try. I looked at the list of tools and I had most of the items already. I immediately pulled out my trusty Fiskars Micro Tip scissors and got started creating. My first attempt was a collage using tissue paper and colored pencil. It was of two of my dogs playing on a beach. The idea for my picture came from a friends photo. On a vacation she'd taken a picture of her dogs at the beach with their reflection in the water. She gave me permission to use the idea so I altered some of the background and added my dogs. For a first attempt it wasn't too bad.

I love creating collages, using paper or found objects really creates an interesting piece of art. The best part is I don't have to hold the scissors for long periods of time, just long enough to cut the pieces. I arrange and rearrange them and then glue them in place. I will add colored pencil and pen as needed for shading or definition. Overall, it's really changed my hobby. I'm able to keep creating and easily complete projects. I've made many pieces of art since then, including a collage of my turtle Myrtle that won 3rd place in the Lancaster County Fair and a picture of purple and yellow iris that took second place in the city employee art competition.

I still have days when my hands are stiff and painful, but with effective medication they shouldn't deteriorate past the point of me being able to hold a pair of scissors. I plan on continuing to create collages and doing what I love.