My first true love was painting. My mother painted. I remember walking into the house when she was working and I would smell the linseed oil and turpentine. That warm and wonderful smell is in my blood still and it immediately calms me and makes me smile. There is something about oil paint and the way the colors can be pushed around the canvas with such gentleness and quietude. I haven’t painted for many years, and I miss it. My second true love is ceramics. I spent many high school hours at the local youth center learning how to throw, …