Painting Lessons in 2012

2012 was the year I painted with friends at Pinot's Palette and Painting with a Twist.  These are popular and trendy.  People take snacks and drinks and paint together, with a teacher providing guidance.  It's fun! Results vary wildly, but it matters not.  It's one big experiment.  My friend Rachel sang and painted and made me laugh.

The main thing I learned was: just paint! Don't be afraid.  Don't wait until you have perfect supplies.  Just get with friends for courage, and paint.

After that, I learned the joys of gesso.  If you gesso first, the paint goes on smoothly.  If you screw up, you can gesso, sand, and try again.

I paint with acrylics.  I love how quickly they dry.  I love that you can start with cheap paint and work you way up to the thicker, artsier tubes.

The most amazing things occurred on this painting journey.  I began to appreciate the art in my house.  I looked with new eyes at street art and indigenous art from other countries.  I even saw lighting differently, as in sunrise and sunset and moonlight. There's a light after a rain that is tentative and almost heart-breaking.  There's the angry glare of the Texas sun in the hot summer, and the sweetness of beams playing on a sultry August night.