June 28th~~
My first "story" published other then the column! I had to overcome alot of self-doubt on this one, and move way out of my comfort zone...how else can you grow?


Move Over, Grandma Moses
Dot Truitt’s eyes sparkled as she leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, "We are both artists, you know. It’s never too late to create. And Bob, here, didn’t start til he was 70."
I met Dot Truitt and her husband Bob at the retail store I work in. When our business was finished, they stayed to chat. Dot, a slim, energetic woman of 71, did most of the talking. "What type of art, ?" I queried, and thus began a story I knew I had to share.
"Wait, I’ll show you" she said, and ran out to her car. She came back with a bag of beautiful clay bracelets, each a circle of brilliant color and hand-painted design. She looked fondly over at her husband, Bob. "He does handmade pottery mirrors. "She explained. She went on to say that she had started 16 years earlier, in her mid fifties. Wow, I thought. So many people at age 50 plus think it’s rocking chair time, but not these two.
She was the typical stay at home Mom, and though she always wanted to create, caring for her family took priority. When her daughter graduated high school , she seized the opportunity to finally follow her artistic vision. Laughing, she explained to me that she did it all wrong. "I bought a huge kiln and a couple of books." She went on to tell me that doing it all wrong meant she did it all right, because her trial and error helped her perfect a unique kiln-firing method that produced brilliant, yet translucent colors.
I asked her where she first showed her work. She laughed again, and explained that her first showing was in the National Museum of Ceramic Art, in downtown Baltimore. " I had been selected for jury duty," she mused, "and in those days, it meant calling the courthouse at 6pm the day before, and then high-tailing it to Baltimore to stay in a hotel that night." She happened to wear one of her pendants, and while visiting the museum, they asked her on the spot to display in their gift shop. She now shows her work in various craft shows in the area. Her next big show is in Lewes on July 9th, sponsored by the Lewes Historical Society.
Bob was a little more reserved about his art. A native eastern shoreman, he joked about "outsiders", and once I confessed to the sin of being one, he relented and told me, "I don’t think of myself as an artist, more of a craftsman. Dot makes the designs for my work, I just put it all together." Regardless of what he thinks, I saw an example of his work, and it’s striking.
Move over, Grandma Moses. Go ahead, pull out those dusty paint brushes, rework that old manuscript, learn that guitar. In Dot Truitt’s words, "It’s never too late to create."