midnightinchicago
I began writing before I could spell, and I began drawing before I had the manual dexterity to command a pencil. I think I would have started painting with acrylic on canvas had I been able to convince my parents that it was worth the expense.
Instead, I bided my time and did not begin painting until I was in college, when I had enough money to be able to afford my own materials.
Everything I have written, everything I have sketched, and everything I have painted has been my own creation entirely and not subject to help, input, or guidance of any kind. I am self taught.
I am told I am a great writer and a talented artist. Most people do not believe it when I tell them how young I was when I began my writing and my artwork, nor do they believe it when I tell them I am self-taught.
The other day I was cruising the internet and I found this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMnwOZA0DQk.
I would have embedded the video in this post however the owner of the video — who I assume is his mother — has disabled the embedding feature on the account at YouTube. Nevertheless, clicking on the link will take you to the video at YouTube.
Sometimes I wish I had such evidence to present in my own defense.
The 4 year old drummer is a sensation, but if you browse the internet even further, you’ll find that he started at three years old. He had to practice for a year before he got as good as we see him in the video.
His natural talent and his cultivation of it is a familiar story to me. I am sure it is a familiar story to many. And it feels good that I can at last provide some sort of proof to sceptics that it IS possible to have talent at a very young age.
What is your talent? And at what age did you discover it?
Thomas D. Taylor
Co-creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO
