I have a sister who paints. She does all kinds of creative things, including singing and songwriting and yodeling, but lately she’s been on a roll with the painting and I’ve been following her progress on Facebook. Earlier this week, my daughter was over here sorting tie-dye and came to find me as I was checking Facebook, so I showed her the work on her Aunt’s page. She admired it and said, “You know, you could just get off Facebook and paint something yourself.”
“What, right now?” I said.
“Sure,” she said, “Why not?”
“I should just get up and get out a canvas and some paints and … paint something? Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
She made it sound easy, and even though the last thing she made sound easy was NaNoWriMo, which turned out to be rather difficult, I decided she might be right about this, and invited her to join me. She was delighted. She paints for the fun of it all the time.
I moved quickly, before I could talk myself out of it, and got some supplies from my creative space, which is so full of supplies, there is no room to actually do anything in there. My daughter helped me carry canvases, palettes and paints to the dining room table. We chose small canvases, so we wouldn’t be intimidated. Okay, I chose small canvases, because I’m saving the larger ones for a time when I might actually have some skill. My daughter would not be intimidated by any canvas, but they were my supplies and she had to take what she could get.
She jumped right in, squirting blues and purples on her palette and painting her feelings in an abstract style. I squirted some Titanium White on my palette, followed by some cool primaries and some warm primaries. I figured that would give me plenty of options, but I still had no idea what to paint. There was no time to set up a still life and it was too wet to paint outdoors. I couldn’t back out at that point – my acrylics were drying on the palette – so I splashed on a sky.
I ended up painting a lot of sky, with a field, a hillside and a tiny house. The point is, I painted. I can’t improve if I never paint. Thanks to my daughter, and the Facebook influence of my sister, I painted.
It might need some happy little trees.
Good job! How big is this canvas? My first painting after not painting for many years was “Nod to Bob”. Just hills and sky … not even a little house. I loved Bob Ross. He made painting accessible to everyone. So happy you have broken the ice. Now, keep painting!
It’s 8″x10″. Mary did two while I was doing this. She has no fear. I loved Bob Ross, too. He had such a soothing voice. I do hope this will lead to more painting.
I love it the way it is–but I also love happy little trees. 😉
Thanks, Sarah. 🙂
I, too, loved Bob. But mostly, his Kiwis. Love your painting. It’s nice to know there are so many artists among us. In my immediate family (my children and I), it seems to have skipped a generation, so we will never be a family that paints together.(my stick figures are embarrassing) Last night I watched a new show about families who DANCE together. Yeah, that’s not gonna happen either. But we’ll always be a family who loves each other and that counts for something. Keep creating!!! Lucinda
That counts for everything, Lucinda. The love is always what matters most.
I’m glad you finished that painting, since I happened to be using your internet that day. Also, everything needs more happy little tress and a few happy clouds as well.
Clouds, yes. I thought it needed clouds, but I didn’t feel up to clouds at the time. Maybe next time! I want to actually go outside at some point and paint what I see.