Painting….how it’s calmed me down.

Thank you to my friend Cherylynda for guest authoring this post. I’m so proud of her for being adventurous and trying new things to keep life interesting.

Looking back, I think even as a kid I thought about things in terms of art. When I look at something, I will think …that would make a good picture. I even wonder how I can transform my youngest son’s stubbornness into a piece of art. I guess art really is translating my feelings onto a canvas.

It began when my friend Ellen and I communicated telepathically and both had bought paint and canvas in two different towns, without even talking to each other. Neither of us had really painted before. We got together one afternoon and just began.

This was the first painting. I’m not proud of it, but you have to start somewhere! It is where I first felt the swirl of the paint under the brush and on to the canvas. I am also a very tactile person, so how that felt is really a big part of why I continued.

This was my fourth painting. I saw this arrangement on a table.  Loved the color, laziness and the antique crock. I took a picture of it…and painted this!

This one I am proud of. I think being able to mix and render these colors made me want to keep painting. I felt like I was improving! (No lie, but it really has taken me 57 years to learn that practice does make perfect).

I’ve found that just like anything in life it has its ups and downs. I was so pumped up by the lilacs I thought…I’ll try Lupine! Not so successful as seen below.

One of the keys to a happy life is to keep moving forward. So in that spirit I continued my journey.

I watched some videos on different painting styles. Claude Monet, famous for his water Lilly paintings, painted in a slab technique. This allowed him to cover a lot of canvas quickly – good thing because many of his paintings are over six feet! He did his paintings in one sitting like I tend to do. So using this technique I painted this:

It’s still pretty simple but I learned a lot. I’ve found that painting calms me after a long day. My mind is always running so it helps to slow me. This next and last painting is my most recent. Just to put this in perspective, I first met with Ellen to paint in May and it’s now only July so progress has been made.

Art brings me joy, to most of my senses, which is really quite satisfying! I would recommend everyone to at least try it. It’s a fairly cheap hobby, and you never know, there could be a hidden Van Gogh in you.

Up next…jewelry making.

No matter what your age, life is an adventure and should be explored!