Tuesday 29 March 2016

Me vs Equal Representation

For years I've been aware that I am not the obviously gifted one in our family.  I spent years trying to figure out what my awesome talent was, and short of being very punctual, I drew a pretty universal blank.

My sister, however, has this (irritating) ability to master almost everything she touches, while I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my house clean and get my toddler to eat more than crackers.
She's an amazing skier (I've blown my knee twice while trying). She rock climbs, and is also great at that (I can drag my way up a rock, but I don't make it look good). She picks up a guitar, and teaches herself to play (Yeah, I have zero coordination when it comes to playing an instrument). And of course she can cook. And bake. (See earlier reference to crackers)

Does it sound like I'm jealous? I totally am, but I love her, so that's ok. :-)

And then there is her artistic talent. Pick a medium, and she will be good at it. Very good at it.

Grab a pencil and boom:




Painting? We had the coolest nursery wall ever:




















Clay had a bumpy start:














...and then apparently got over it:


























Surprisingly, this really hasn't bothered me that much over the years, however every now and again I feel like I need to point out the disparity in appreciation as demonstrated by other family members.

My parents house holds no less than 5 pieces of my sister's art PROMINENTLY displayed on walls and in curio cabinets.

I specifically said prominently, because to be fair, I did find this:



A picture of whales that I took years ago. You will notice that I found it carefully tucked in a drawer. Maybe it's a display drawer?

When relating this story to my sister over Easter (and making sure she was aware I'd be putting her art up here), she recognized the photo as one she had used as a template for a whale picture she has painted. Ouch, though to be fair, my "art" pretty much consists of the adult colouring books available at my local grocery store, so I can see why that doesn't get a frame.  

But not even my parents obvious artistic favouritism (which is well deserved...I can't draw a straight line with a ruler) can touch the time when my grandmother introduced my sister and I to her friend. She began by telling this woman about how talented my sister was, how artistic, how brilliant, basically how the rainbows never ceased to shine when she was around, et cetera. Then I think she realized I was there too. She looked at me in a vaguely panicked way, and you could see the moment that she realized the hole that had been dug. She looked at her friend and gave me the most memorable introduction I have ever experienced: "This is Jamie. She can read."

Literacy Level: Expert
If you need something read, I'm your girl. I will read the shit out of it.

Except this month....I'm way behind on my book club reading.

Stop laughing.