My life as an artist has come full circle!

My life has come full circle (well at least one of my circles). I have been asked to judge the Sac County Fair's art entries this year.

I am from Sac City and I distinctly remember when I was in second grade, probably about 7 years old, I entered my first piece of art into the fair. I had started art lessons from Mrs Reding that year and created a mixed media piece of a portrait. In translation I drew a girl, colored her with crayons and added pieces of yarn for the hair. I thought she looked very sophisicated.... Anyway, I remember going in on opening day and searching for my art entry. I finally found it and to my surprise it had a blue ribbon on it! I remember thinking, "Well, maybe I can be an artist after all!"

That blue ribbon meant the world to me and to this day it still does.

As I judge the entries at this years fair I will keep my memory close by and take my task very seriously. I hope the awards I give out will inspire and give kids a reason to keep creating. The hard part for me will be determining which pieces get blue ribbons and which ones get red and white, I would like to give everyone a blue.

Remember your county fairs. If you know kids who like art encourage them to create something for the fair. Our fair accepts entries from counties that are contiguous to ours. Meaning if your county doesn't have a fair then maybe the next one to you does.