Finding the Joy

I am not an artist. When I was young, I had a set of acrylic paints and brushes. I remember sitting outside and painting nature scenes. Was I any good? Not really. Could I have been? I don't know. My parents insisted I take an art class. I begged them not to make me go. I was painfully shy and the very idea struck terror into my heart. However, I went and it was even worse than I imagined. There were several of the "mean girls" from my grade in the class and the instructor's teaching style was not one that meshed with the way I learn. Taking the paint brush away from me and doing something for me taught me nothing except that I wasn't good enough. Being so shy and insecure, I already knew that. In my mother's later years she said that forcing me to go to that class was one of her biggest regrets because I never painted again and she was correct. I didn't. However, not painting wasn't a conscious choice I made in order to be vindictive for being forced to attend class against my will. It was simply a case of the experience destroyed any joy I found in painting.

It has only been within the last five years or so that I have once again found happiness in painting. There are a number of art studios that have sprung up across the country offering instructor led classes to the masses. (Many of these classes also allow the imbibing of alcoholic beverages during class.) The purpose of these studios is not to teach students how to be the next Picasso but instead to let them see that, with a just a little instruction, we can each be more creative than we may think possible. "Oh, I could never do that" becomes "Look what I did!"

My daughter-in-law is blessed with artistic talent. Somehow, I let her talk me into taking a "fundamentals of painting" class with her. Much to my surprise I enjoyed it. I also appreciated the fact that the instructor never took my brush away from me to "fix" my work or told me that I was doing thing "wrong." He simply made suggestions as to how to improve next time. True, several of the paintings I completed in that class will never see the light of day (especially the first one) but there are a couple I am extremely proud of, such as this one:

Some of my favorite classes are those offered by Truth Be Told Art. Most Truth Be Told paintings begin with a stencil to outline the image being painted and the font used for the text. But the actual color choices and painting, shading, etc. are up to the participant. I usually attend these classes with friends and it's always fun to see how different our paintings are from everyone else's. This is the Truth Be Told painting that hangs in my dining area:

So, what is the purpose of this post? It's to encourage you to not worry so much about trying to be perfect; after all, perfection is a myth. It's okay to just create and find joy in the process. So, go out and do something that makes you happy and don't worry about what anyone else thinks!

Sign up for my newsletter here:  http://madmimi.com/signups/112968/join

Amazon Author Page:  http://amazon.com/author/isabellanorse

Website:  http://www.isabellanorse.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaNorseAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorIzzy

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/isabellanorse/