Obsession? Compulsion? Expression!

I've only recently been referring to myself as an Artist. My Artist Statement (created just this summer) Renee Howell, the practicing artist, has been on a course of independent study for as long as she can remember. I'm not a formally trained artist - just one of the many who feel the need to make marks on paper or press buttons on magical, mostly black, boxes.

A couple of months ago, my current-est camera (over there on the left) began suffering from "pixel death." Random grayed areas began appearing on the pictures. I worried about spending the money to buy a new camera. What kind should I get - never one to do all the calculations of f-stops, aperture -etc. I wanted grab and go. And, I thought I could live if I put off buying a new camera.

My daughters - each and every one of them said, "MOM - YOU HAVE to have a camera!"

I never realized how much they picture me as the one with the camera in hand. How much my camera - which ever one was my favorite at the time - was a part of Me. The Me they saw and see. The Mom with a camera. Of course, I should have seen it myself - I'm always the one not in the print image, I'm the one behind the scenes capturing a moment. Always lagging behind the group taking a photo of some obscure thing.

The cameras above - I honestly didn't realize I had a collection - are part of my "collection".

I'm preparing myself for my Art resolution for 2010 and beyond. I am restless in my skin. I need to expand. What is my Art challenge for myself? Filling in the blank "I want to do/learn/grow _________________."