25 Years Later....My Journey as an Artist

To contact me directly e-mail: meganduncanson@yahoo.com

I just received THE coolest phone call! My sister calls me and tells me that she just received a phone call and has some strange but amazing news to tell me. I couldn’t even imagine what it could possibly be? She goes on to tell me that an administrator at a hospital in Anchorage, Alaska wanted to return a painting to me, as they were in the process of tearing down the old hospital and returning all the art to the original owner’s/artist’s.

But, the Amazing thing is how did a painting of mine even end up there? Here’s where the crazy part comes in! I guess when I was in the 8^th grade I had submitted a painting to a state wide art contest and little did I know I had won 1^st price and the award was to have the art hanging in this hospital!! I had never received notification that I had won and I honestly can’t even remember entering the contest or what the painting was! The painting is being returned to my parents in Alaska and I will get to see it when I go up there next year, and they will describe it to me in the meantime to help jolt my memory :)

This really made me think about how certain things are just meant to be in life. As far back as I can remember I was drawing and painting and finding inspiration for creating new art all around me. But, reality set in as I grew older, at least what I thought was reality at the time, and I didn’t even think it was possible to make a decent living as an artist. So, instead I discovered an interest in the analytical nature of Political Science and pursued my college education with a Bachelor and Masters degree in Political Science. Once I graduated I taught High School for awhile, worked at the University I graduated from, eventually became a Licensed Residential Contract and worked with my husband to build custom homes.

During this entire time I was always creating art for myself, friends and family never thinking I could ever do more with it than that. I would try galleries and even did a few murals, but it was more of a hobby than a career. Then one day I took the plunge and listed an original painting for auction on eBay and it was the thrill of a lifetime! At first there wasn’t any interest, but on the final day in the last few minutes there was a bidding war! I couldn’t stop refreshing my computer and watching the bids continue to climb…it was an exhilarating and life changing moment. I realized right then and there that I COULD and WOULD become a successful artist living out my dream job…and I AM!!

The inspiration in this story is to NEVER, EVER give up on your dreams! I’m so glad that I always created my art, even when I took different paths, because it led me to where I am today, doing what I love to do more than anything in the world! Life is such an amazing journey with twists and turns, but it always seems to work out JUST the way it was meant to be if we BELIEVE it will and hold that dream close to our heart. I’m living proof, and want to enjoy living my life as an artist each and every day and sharing my blessing with as many people as I can.

I don't have any art from when I was a child, my mother keeps all of it, just as I keep my own daughter's art :) But, I do have a picture of a pen and ink sketch I did of a woman. I don't know how old I was at the time I drew it. My mother turned it into a card and sent it to me in 2004 to congratulate me on making PowerSeller status on eBay, yet another milestone in my art career that meant a lot to me at the time.