It turns out I miss art. I minored in art in undergraduate studies and majored in biology. Then vet school left little to no time for art. Then marriage and kids and starting a veterinary career and practice left art out almost entirely. I did manage to start quilting which fed my love of color and design heartily but it is a slow process compared to a drawing or even a painting when you have two kids and a career to tend to. Now that my boys are relatively independent and my veterinary practice is outfitted with a capable associate I find I have free time to do art.
Not knowing if I had any talent after a twenty plus year sabbatical, I took a plein air painting class in July. Every Wednesday I drove all the way to Seattle (2.5 hrs away one way) to learn a few things about oil painting landscapes. Jim Phalen of Gage Academy taught the class and he was lovely, constructive and I picked up a few tips. The best was if your painting isn't working, you GET to paint it over. Not a waste. It's all a learning process and you can let it dry some and go back in and fix what you don't like. Of course that feeds into my perfectionism a bit too well. And it means I can go overboard on fussing with things to such an extent I ruin them...
Then I came across the idea of daily painting which rings a bell that says anyone can be great at nearly anything if they spend 10,000 hrs doing it. So on August 9th I started painting daily, well nearly every day to date. And I'm finding I do have talent. And seeing things and being able to translate them to canvas is pretty easy for me. The most important finding is that I cannot worry when I am painting! Anyone who knows me knows I worry and I worry a lot. Painting is freeing. It's exhilarating.
My goal for the next few days is to get some photos taken of my paintings put up here. Hopefully to sell some, if not just to keep an inventory of my work and document my progress. Now to find the camera...
