Unleashing My Inner Monet....

An Aunt Cheryl painting

Painters inspire me.  The creativity and talent that it takes to make something out of nothing, whether it is a portrait, landscape or a mishmash of colours swirling around on a canvas..... simply amazing.  Growing-up inspiring painters were not hard to find.  My Grandma Jean and my Aunt Cheryl were constantly working on honing their craft.  

Here are some examples of their work.  See-  hard not to be impressed right?

A Grandma Jean Original

I may have mentioned this in a previous blog-  my mother  is a crafter and artist extraordinaire.  There was and is very little that she can't do- cake decorating, flower arranging, knitting, sewing, candle-wicking, ceramics, quilting, weaving, paper tole, etc.    Even with all this talent during my youth she declined learning to paint.  She would often comment that the closest she would ever come to painting was a paint by number of the Last Supper that hung on our dining room wall.  She was very clear that she was not a painter and she would never be one.

That changed after I left home.  One day Mom decided to learn how to folk-art paint.  She was a success.  Then she decided she wanted to try painting on canvas.  She took a  few Bob Ross classes (yes the dude from the PBS series who's monotonous tone puts you to sleep and when you awake there is a beautiful painting to admire).  Again she knocked it out of the park.  She could add yet two more things to her list of talents. I was awestruck, as I typically am by the seemingly unlimited talents of my mother.

For a number of years now I have wanted to paint.  To be like my mother and just pick-up a brush and start creating.  Fear of failure and a general lack of knowledge has held me back.

Why?

I lack basic art skills.  Sure I can colour and I can draw some pretty kick a$$ stick people but that is where my talent ends.  There was a reason I chose band instead of art in Grade 7... to avoid continually proving that I suck at art.  It is natural to conclude that since I can't draw, painting pictures would be epic fail.

Recently Paint Nite started being offered in town.  A night to get together with others, have drinks and paint a picture.  My friends and colleagues have all been.  They all swore that prior painting knowledge and ability was not needed in order to end up with an amazing painting.  I saw their work. I was impressed by all.  Very talented and creative women, each and everyone.   But I was still skeptical that I could also end up with a similar result if I attended a Paint Nite.

Invites to go to Paint Nite continued to flow in and I continued to turn all of them down.  I could not escape my performance anxiety.  Failing is one thing, failing in front of a crowd where pictures are being taken..... not going to happen!!!

It seems that all I needed was repeated offers and continued encouragement to give it a try.  I found my chutzpah.  Around the same time Autism Ontario was hosting a Paint Nite fund raiser.  All the proceeds were going to support the local chapter.  I figured it did not matter what I ended up with.  It was for a good cause and I would walk out of there with something.    I registered and paid my fee.

Here is the painting that got me off my duff.

Paint Nite- Under the Red Tree

I figured even if my version it did not end up looking like this one.  I was guaranteed to have a canvas full of some of my favourite colours.  

The evening ended up being really fun.  I had cheerleader support in the form of Pam-  A Paint Nite expert.  I abstained from adult beverages as I wanted to have my wits about me to make sure I didn't miss any of the instructions.  2 hours later this was the end result:

My version-  Better than I feared, but room for improvement.

A painting monster has been born.  All I want to do is paint, paint, paint.  The only problem- no supplies.  A quick trip to Michael's today rectified that.  Whoo Hoo!!!!!!  Now to find some time to work on my new hobby.

My siblings are probably cringing.... starting a new hobby before finishing my other hobby projects.  What can I say, my Mom is my inspiration!!!!!!