Painting and Sketching and Talking about Angels

Happy Wednesday to you.  I’ve been taking an online class with my wonderful art friend Wyanne called Paint Free and I have to admit I’ve been struggling with it. Couple reasons really. One is simply lack of time. The class is currently on week six, and I’m only half way through week three! This painting is actually part of week two’s assignment. My inspiration for this was a Boca Grande sunset. It definitely still needs more work, but I guess it’s a start. Any pointers from you painters out there would be greatly appreciated.

And that brings me to the second reason I’ve been struggling. I’m finding I’m simply not comfortable with a paint brush. In this painting, I actually used my fingertips quite a bit. I go back and look at this painting, and I can’t believe I painted it (I think another trip back to Yes You Canvas is in order…). But maybe the large size and large brush strokes are what worked for me. I’m finding I’m definitely not comfortable with small detail work. My lack of patience probably contributes to that. And then there’s my tendency to take on so many things at once. That’s just a part of my nature that I accepted a long time ago. I’m also currently taking Alisa Burke’s Sketchbook Delight class, and thankfully that one is open ended so I’ll have time to stretch it out a bit. The sketchbook format and supplies are definitely easier to bring along and play when I have a spare moment here and there.

Sometimes I think about all that I have going on and wonder how it affects my girls. I try to include them in all my art projects, so I’m hoping I’m cultivating two little artists in the making. They definitely have the interest so that keeps me going. While I’m working on my projects, they are right there next to me working on theirs. I wonder how the heck the parents that have their kids in dance or sports or music or whatever do it? Where does that time come from? We’ve yet to put the girls in any type of organized activity, and as yet, they’ve also shown no interest in it, but I’m sure that time will come. When I think back to when I was a child, I don’t recall being involved in more than one thing at a time. I was a Girl Scout and I was in music classes, but that was all at school. I started playing organized softball at 10 and played all the way through college, and I really enjoyed that so I’m hoping at some point, the girls will want to participate in some type of sport. DH is pushing them towards soccer…while I’m wanting to protect those pretty little shins that already get beat up enough just playing around the house!

I guess in many ways, my taking these classes is bringing me back to school, so the girls and I have something in common there as well. They seem to be growing up so quickly that I wonder if we’ll all be in high school soon. :-)  I’ll end this with one of their funny observations…this one from Sarah as we were experiencing so much rain these past few days: “Mama, I think the angels must be really clumsy sewers [as in seamstress], but really good bowlers.” Boy, does that one take me back. I must have told them that somewhere. Gold star to those of you who know what it means.