Green to the Extreme.
When did it really kick in? You will see it in children quickly. Some kids are content to sit for hours doodling, whereas some will never doodle. Thats more or less it! If its in them, it will grab a hold regardless.
My folks let me to draw on the bedroom walls in my bedroom (all over the walls) That was a breakthrough for sure!
But, on reflection I remember 2 key mentors.
The first was Catherine, in Oldtown letterkenny, "never to go outside the lines", she assessed my work, and was hyper critical. I never went outside the lines when she taught me, 4 to 7 yrs, and that’s just a neighbour.
I never go ‘inside’ those lines now, but she was showing me what was right in her mind at the time, thats good training.
The second was pivotal. I was green to the extreme when I walked in that door on Fitzwilliam Street in 1998. I had just been taken for a mug by some cowboy employer on Baggot St. And badly stung for money, when Yellowstone Design opened its doors to me. I remember it well … the day I met my mentor. It was the beginning of something new and he put his trust in me. I made lots of mistakes ("but never twice") early on and he was very pissed off on occasion, but he knew he could shape me to fit his ideas at Yellowstone. I spent 4 happy years there and my only regret is that I had to move on, but such is life. Leo Duffy taught me everything. He trusted me with jobs I had no business being in charge of with the biggest clients in Ireland at the time. Thats when it really kicked in. Get Well soon Leo!