November 29, 2014
Over the last few years I've accumulated several art supplies, so many supplies that I had to purchase a storage container from the prison that can only be utilized for holding art supplies. I use these supplies for many things, like making Christmas cards for my family and friends, drawing pictures for my son, carving and painting soap to send home as gifts, or even just doing something constructive with my free time. Unfortunately all of my supplies were taken away from me and placed in storage until my release from cell isolation, which makes no sense at all because I still have the privilege of purchasing some of these supplies from the commissary, like colored pencils and construction paper. For a while I couldn't bring myself to spend money on items I already own, but as time went by in cell isolation I realized I could be using some of this time to work on Christmas cards. Christmas is just around the corner, I'll still be on cell isolation for Christmas, meaning that I would have to spend money on pre-made cards from the commissary anyway, so why not just buy more art supplies and work on making some cards from the heart. So last week that's just what I did, I purchased some more colored pencils and construction paper from the commissary, now I have something productive to add to my limited daily schedule. Another part of my art supply collection is stencils; these stencils are a collection of drawings made not just by me, but also from seeing cartoon characters on the television or ideas that are tweaked from other artists. These stencils enabled me to do several pictures in a shorter period of time, especially helpful for Christmas cards when I have some 20+ cards to make and send out. A part of my personality and chemical makeup is O.C.D. and perfectionism, both of which make me a good artist, but can also be my downfall. My perfectionistic, O.C.D. behavior causes me to spend a great deal of time drawing, erasing, drawing and erasing again until I get it just right, this makes the simplest of drawings take a very long time for me to complete and since all of my stencils are in storage I have to start over from scratch. I certainly have my work cut out for me; I just hope I can finish in time for Christmas....
Steven Dybvad
