The MNSCBWI mentorship award got me thinking about another award from a l...o...n...g time ago. In fact it's the only other award I've ever received. While other popular high school students were succeeding in sports, I was painting Unicorns. And in an effort to provide full disclosure, this Unicorn was a copy of the work of another artist. A Unicorn specialist I'm sure. But this effort was all mine. I tried to be as exacting in my f*$#ery as I could. Duplicating 100,000 blades of grass just like the original. O.K., I might be exagerating just a little. And I was going by a small magazine picture maybe the size of 1 1/2 inches by 2 inches. So maybe I deserved an award! My high school art teacher Mr. Urness entered my bejeweled Unicorn in the 3rd district Congressional Arts Competition. I went on to win second place. So that meant that my painting would (supposably) be hung in Congressman Steve Gunderson's office. Meanwhile, the first place winner was displayed in the Capitol hallway. The cool part is that it was the Capital building in Washington, D.C.! We had lunch and a photo Op with the Congressman. But this was the 80's and I was a nerdy teenager. Just send me a whole bunch of money and I might post a photo. So do you think Mr. Gunderson actually hung my painting in his office? I'll never know for sure. But I can say for certain that he probably wasn't a Unicorn lover. Another fun part of this post is how I think this painting relates to my husband's Inline skates. It's the stained glass wheel...get it?
