This has to be one of my absolute favorite parts of my 30 before 30 so far, probably tied with performing at Desert Bloom and visiting the Grand Canyon. Hmm, I just realized I never blogged about either of those events, my apologies.
Most of you that know me understand that up until this particular day in May, I had never painted anything really… especially not on canvas. I’m a sketcher – pretty much lo-fidelity is my game. I’m good at getting the ideas going and generating my ideas and thoughts onto paper for graphic designers to turn into reality. Occasionally I can use Photoshop to create a gem, but it’s rare – a true diamond in the rough.
I’m actually a little embarrassed about how poor my drawing art skills are. I know a lot of very talented artists and graphic designers and I’ve just never been that person. Even more reason to add it to my list.
Initially, my plan was to invite a few of my female folk over to paint in my garage and have a few glasses of wine. I had planned on asking one of my friends Jinia, who is one of the owners of Loveland. As I’m heading to personally invite her, I get an idea. Would she really be up for hosting it? Inviting customers and my friends alike. Would it work?
She was. And it did. I was amazed at how many showed interest, and how many of those had little or no painting experience. It was going to be a first for several of my friends and customers of Loveland, though a few of them had painted several times before.
When I was asked to describe the event, I used these words in an email I quickly drew up to Jinia, which became the message sent to everyone interested in the event:
I’ve really been trying to focus a lot on learning to do new things, and focusing on creativity outside my profession and everyday activities. By no means am I an artist by nature, and to be quite honest, I’ve never painted a canvas before in my life. That in itself made me want to do it. The more I talked with other people, the more I realized there were many people I knew that had never painted before, never having tapped into that part of their creativity before. Why? Some are probably intimated because they consider themselves art challenged (as I often do). Some may have just never thought about just painting a canvas before. Whatever the reason, I have seen a definite need for the mind to tap into different areas of creativity, and I wanted to create a way for my friends and others to do this without fear of embarrassment or intimidation. I can guarantee to them all, the only thing I can do is turn a lower case m into a seagull in the sky. Let’s do this together and create art for our homes, friends, offices, or to trade within our painting session.
Soon we had people donating time and supplies, including Arizona Art Supply and the amazing Jenny Fontana who helped those that had questions in regard to technique.
While I spent the beginning portion of the night watching what others were doing, by the night’s end, I had painted two abstract pieces – one for my bedroom and one for my dining room.
They are finally hung, and I am proud they are mine.
