So last week my husband surprised me with a date I never would have guessed of him – an artist date of sorts – an reservation over at Painting with a Twist – a studio where you come for a couple of hours, wine is offered, and the participants are shown how to paint the painting of the night.
I had no idea what to expect initially. We arrived and were confronted first with a blank canvas – a sight a bit daunting. What made this even more interesting was the long lines of canvases that went down the room – in all there was room for (and in actuality) at least 30 painters to work.
My own particular canvas felt very white. And the paints they gave me didn’t inspire a lot of confidence. This much paint to cover the whole thing? Well thank goodness it’s not like painting a house….right?
Only I was wrong and immediately they set us to cover the entire canvas with background so we could eventually paint a tree and blossoms on the foreground. I dabbed a bit and felt lost. Chris (painting on the right) seemed to be having about as much luck as me. I don’t know if we were lacking inspiration or talent or maybe just were trying too hard to follow directions…? Either way at this point I was wondering why I’d even agreed to come.
After a bit (and let’s face it, I wandered around the room to get more ideas…) I smeared some darker colors on the canvas and thought that while it didn’t look very good at this point, at least I was trying…this was going to become something? Really?
Then we started with our branches. I think I should have stopped here. I had even the instructor stop and tell me that this was amazing. Several compliments and my head was swelling…I could do this after all. Even Chris started feeling more confident!
Then the flowers came…and I lost it. That impact, that stark Legend of Sleepy Hollow thing I had going became…soft? I’m not sure I’m happy with the finished product.
Well, it was fan. It’s really a unique kind of date and one that actually taught me something about art. Mostly that it’s a lot harder than I thought to dab paint on a canvas and come away with anything worthwhile.
And that artists are extremely critical of their own work.
Yeah, I need to work on it. I like it. Kinda. It might be fun to try this again someday.
Life in Transition 