#43. Paint a canvas.
Before I begin, I'd like to to introduce Jo.
Blog, meet Jo.
Jo, blog.
Beyond having extraordinarily good taste in 60's inspired fashion for murder mystery fundraisers, Jo's a super talented visual artist. She also has a bunch of othergreat qualities but this isn't a dating site, so I'm not going to bother with them. Its her artistry that I pretty much used to my advantage.
I can't quite put into words the level of her skill, so instead I'll use a visual aid to exemplify her level of talent:
This is mine:
Naturally, Jo was the ideal person to help me with this number.
I've always wanted to learn to paint but I knew it took time, effort, precision and innate talent that I just don't possess. Looking back on the list, I'm so glad I didn't write "MASTER THE VISUAL ARTS" and instead made things simple for myself. Marisa, you shall paint a canvas, and should you be lucky enough to have the right help, it shall be good.
There's a certain meditative quality that painting provides which I'm drawn to. (Get it? Drawn?) The fact that you have an idea in your head that can be made real and tangible is an exciting creative force. As someone who grew up with theatre arts, I can respect that. I'm also a little jealous that painting seems to be a little less neuroses-inducing...although I'm sure it can be oodles frustrating. To sum up, this number found its way onto my list because it was something I always wanted to do. When it came to art, I had written many decent words in my adulthood but had never painted a single darn thing.
Perhaps this can be attributed to Grade 4 art class in private school where the art teacher's guidance would more or less be something like this:
HER: "Oh. I see you're using that blue for your ocean."
9 YEAR OLD SELF: "Yeah! Gosh, painting is fun!"
HER: "That's nice. That's not a decision I'd make. But what do I know? I'VE ONLY HAD MY WORK EXHIBITED AT 100s OF GALLERIES ACROSS THE PROVINCE FOR THE PAST DECADE. CLEARLY, I MUST BE AN AMATEUR. BUT NO. GREAT CHOICE OF BLUE."
I digress.
Jo suggested I choose something simple to paint so we Google imaged flowers. This is the image we both agreed would a) look nice from a first timer and b) not be so incredibly frustrating we'd stab ourselves in the eyes with our elbows.
I had bought my own canvas and Jo was generous enough to share her paints. During our painting lesson, she was extremely patient with me. Man, it takes forever to blend and shade and show depth and you know, display an overall talent! It was pretty difficult for this newbie but with some great coaching, it slowly started coming along:
Precision really does pay off because in a little more time, the entire flower was done!
Folks, that is a legitimate F$@%@$@ flower RIGHT there!
I unfortunately didn't get a chance to finish the background, but I did get halfway. Hopefully Jo's patience with me will extend to another night and I'll have created my masterpiece.
It might sound really goofy, but it felt so good to..well...create art. And of course, this little painting of mine might not fit your definition of art but to me, it works.
I CREATED ART.
And that, my friends, is pretty cool.
Stay tuned for news about Dec. 16 (a.k.a" The Mystery Event Formerly Known as Dec. 23").
<3,
m
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