Awakening the Artist

Purple Road

During the month of June, I did pursue one of my goals - to begin to paint!  One of my good friends, Gina Hurry, had let me hang out in her studio back in May.  I loved watching her work, and she know of my desire to start painting.  On her recommendation, I signed up for a month-long class with David Nichols.  

The first class was on the Tuesday after I flew back into town after taking care of my son in California.  I was so ill-prepared!  When I arrived at the studio, I had a bunch of paint, a couple of brushes and that was it - no canvas, no palette, no paper towels!  Of course, all 12 of the other students there had all their stuff organized, and set up when I cruised in right on time.  Fortunately, one of my friends had also signed up for the class and graciously loaned me a canvas and some palette paper.  

David got us right in to painting.  He showed us how to prep the canvas.  He talked about shape and value and demonstrated all this with his own painting.  I watched and tried to copy.  He gave us all a picture to use as a guide for our work.  I felt rather awkward, but I had determined that I was there to have a good time, not to perform for anyone, so I jumped in.  It was fun!  

After the first class, I had the painting started, but not finished.  I did end up working on it the night before our next class while we were having a thunderstorm.  Even when the power got knocked out, I just lit a few candles and kept working.  It was kind of romantic to be painting by candlelight!

The next day, David walked around and looked at all our work.  He had encouraging words for me, but wasn't sure about the purple road.  "Actually, that is my favorite part." I told him.  David totally encouraged all of us to just paint and not judge our work.  What a wonderful way to start a new endeavor!

The third week of class, I was again coming in from a trip out to LA and I was in the same scattered state.  Everyone else had a picture they were going to paint.  I felt like I must have missed the memo - I was just glad I made it to class!  

One of David's artist friends made a quick announcement in class and said that they needed help with a charity fund-raiser.  He asked us to paint something - anything - on these small 6x8 cards.  They were going to auction all of them off for $50 each and raise money.  Since I didn't have a photo with me, I decided to work on a few small cards for the auction.  At least I could try out some of my ideas.  Here are the results:

Both paintings were a lot of fun to do, and I was encouraged that I was taking on this new hobby.  It feels good to be painting.  In addition, I have made some great new friends.  This is always the added payoff to joining a new group.

Right now, I have another still life I am working on for this month's class.  If it turns out well, I may just share it. Regardless, I am glad I started painting.  It feels like a real fit!