By Tamara L. Young, PhD, Public Information Director, World’s Luckiest Fishing Village
Wearing a green dress with thousands of tiny white flowers, carrying hundreds of pieces of her artwork into the Destin Library on one of the summer’s hottest days, she still wears a smile.
She is whimsy and childlike and stubbornly says not to use her first name if writing about her. Why? “I don’t like the name.” Nothing more is offered. LaPine, it is then.
She also prefers not to be photographed, refusing to look directly at the camera. She prefers you to look at her art.
You cannot help but immediately like her. She is a blend of mischievousness and happiness, and it is abundantly clear in the artwork she has chosen to display, now lovingly filling the nooks and crannies around the Library.
“Art is a celebration of imagination aimed at enticing a response of creativity from the inner child whether five or 85,” she says.
“If you create it, practice it, perfect it and it evokes emotion or reaction – positive or negative – you’ve won. The world can take it or leave it, but you made them look.”
LaPine isn’t wrong. People are stopping by the Library for a book, yes, but also to look. Her artwork, some for sell, is meant for all to enjoy.
She admits growing up she wanted to be a musician more than an artist. “But I’m tone deaf.”
She turns serious for a moment, saying we are all so much more capable than we believe. “Share your gifts, art, music, theater, dancing, gardening, fishing, sewing, sailing. All the creative things you do. Show the children now so their minds will be open to endless possibilities later.”
The wit and whimsy and creativity in her work speaks for itself, but the care is there, too. Her aim is to inspire others. “I want everyone to discover their hidden inner artist and encourage them to experiment with multiple mediums to express their unique personal styles. We are all multi-faceted,” she reminds us.
“I draw, carve, cast, polish and try to make everything happy.” But she encourages others to find their own space and style.
“You are your own target audience. You are not in competition with anyone except yourself. Your own growth depends on your willingness to reach beyond your comfort zone and experiment with ideas. Folk art is a spontaneous, scattered energy and mood-induced. But fine art is more thought out, practiced, refined, detailed and time-consuming. You can do both and create your own masterpieces beyond expectations.”
“Art is not a hobby; it’s a beautiful lifestyle,” says LaPine.
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