DROWNING ON PAINT WATER

"At this point in my life I know I wouldn’t mind drowning on paintwater."

I might not have even said those words, but they needed a good line to go with the headline. I might not have even given this interview, but they needed a good name to feature.

"Prodigies are hard to find", said editor Mary Jane Donovan when my mom went asking why the hell I was in the newspaper. "I believe your daughter to be one and we sure as hell won't be missing her."

But I was no prodigy.

Prodigy is having your hands made for painting. I know because I've met one.

I only had my heart and forced my hands to work their way across a canvas every single day, until they wouldn't stop shaking. I would rest a bit, then got back to my colors. Now, my fingers ached whenever they weren't on the brush.

Painting wouldn't have chosen me hadn't I chosen it.