a young girl who loved to draw nature.
She was allowed to take a few art lessons, but found them dissatisfying because she felt they constricted her style. So for the rest of her life she was mostly self-taught.
When this girl became a young woman the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais told her “Plenty of people can draw, but you…have observation.”
Her observations, however, were dismissed by one of Britain’s leading scientific organizations of the day, the all-male Linnean Society of London.
Decades later, Beatrix Potter’s hypothesis about how fungi reproduce was proven correct.
Fortunately, her observations of animals and nature continue to delight both children and adults.
It takes courage to follow your chosen path and indulge in the joy it brings. Others with good (and sometimes not so good) intentions will try to alter your style, your voice, your vision. They may even dismiss you.
Accept that as a price to be paid for not conforming and carry on.
“There once lived…” © 2018 Dara Girard; Image copyright at top of post © Beatrix Potter 1852 watercolor; Armitt Museum