Art Lesson

I have long been self-conscious as an artist (ever since I realized my people drawings haven’t changed since preschool!). Give me something to copy or be inspired by and I have a fighting chance, but creating strictly from my “mind’s eye” is doomed from the start.

My wonderful friend Meredith is an art teacher, and also owns a shop in town where she hosts imaginative art classes and parties. Recently I was drawn (haha, no pun intended!) to her “thrift shop painting” class – where we each got to choose an already-done work of art, and spookify-it ourselves for Halloween! On arrival I was so excited, knowing exactly which painting would be mine (she pre-shared them on IG!). But the only other thing I knew was that a witch would figure prominently in my creation. Now to my credit I have befriended google images, and it didn’t let me down.  Soon I chose her silhouette, and within 30 minutes or so there she was: floating over the river, quite ready to unleash mayhem on the unsuspecting pedestrians.

I had no idea what was next, so I stuck with google images – merely following its lead, when it delivered a sinister hand-shadow worthy of my wicked witch’s conjuring. And after that, a truly terrifying jack-o-lantern moon!  Meredith was on standby with suggestions for the fog that would roll in, as well as the ghastly greening of the night sky.

Several people have remarked my end product seems painted by one person, which I consider a great compliment. As I’ve already admitted, painting from scratch is just not in my wheelhouse. Here’s the important thing: I used to carry a lot of shame around that, considering it a defect to be overcome. Today I realize that it simply IS. And the actual defect that I have overcome is shying away from all forms of artwork simply because I cannot ‘create from scratch.’ These days – after I identify a concrete starting point (in this example the painting to start with and my desire to introduce a witch) – I throw myself into the mix and stay open for something ELSE to inspire me, and let it take off from there.

It’s an incredible lesson that I am currently working on transposing into other areas of my life – this jumping into the unknown with enthusiasm, in order to create something brand new that lights me up. Because (as I am learning from my faithful mentor Karen McMullen), the unknown reveals itself bit by bit – but ONLY once you’ve truly stepped into it!