And Then There Was Graffiti Art.

Something I have learned throughout my life and over and over again is that creativity begets creativity and that it runs in the family.

My mom, my sister, and I are all very, very creative, in very different ways. Mom is an artist, a painter, and a quilter. Julesie is a photographer, a graphic designer, and a hobby chef. I am a paper crafter, a cake-baker, and of course, a writer.

So it shouldn’t have surprised me when J, who plays guitar and has become quite good at mixing music with DJ equipment, showed talent in an entirely different category over the summer.

“Mom,” he said, “I want to show you something.”

He brought me a spiral notebook and flipped it open to reveal an amazing drawing of a guy wearing a funky hat. It looked like it had come right off the wall of a building somewhere. I was amazed.

“WOW!” I exclaimed. “You drew that????”

“Well, sort of. I followed a YouTube tutorial on how to draw some graffiti art.”

“But you drew it,” I said.

“Yes.”

(I did not get his permission to post his drawing here but it was something like THIS, every detail drawn to exact scale, with his own, newly-created signature.)

Remembering those “Can you draw this turtle?” ads from magazines that claimed to determine your success at an art school back in the day, I said, “You are very talented!”

“Thanks,” he said. “I think it looks really good too. And don’t worry,” he smiled, “I’ll keep it on paper and off walls.”

He carried that notebook and a black Sharpie around for a couple of weeks, constantly working on new drawings–each of them better than the last. I bought him a set of colored pens and a real sketch pad so he’d be able to expand on his basic drawings and then, as the summer began to wane, he stopped drawing for the time being. An increased work schedule, our trip to Ohio, and preparations for a busy senior year took over, but he’ll get back to it. You can’t put a lid back on that kind of thing.

It makes me wonder what’s next.