I have always wanted to learn how to paint. My attempts as a child/teen were met with rather harsh criticism, and the option of taking art classes in school was frowned upon by my family. For a very long time I thought I just wasn’t very creative. But that desire to explore my creative side never went away.
Several years ago, I found Jeanne Oliver and when she began to add art classes to her website I signed up. I don’t remember the first class I took, but I do remember how surprised I was when I saw what I could create. She has quite a few free art videos on her site, and so very many artists who teach all sorts of styles and skill levels of art. I’ll have to go back and see which classes I’ve completed and show you some of my own works from the class. When you’re a complete novice it’s so nice to have someone teach you how to start.
In the spring of 2020, when we were all stuck at home and it was still feeling rather fresh and almost luxurious (remember those days?), Miss Mustard Seed kindly and generously offered to host some live painting classes. I have been following Marian (Miss Mustard Seed) for so many years now that she seems almost like a friend. She had taken up oil painting a few years before that and she is a natural teacher. I was celebrating a milestone birthday and decided to buy myself some art supplies so I could paint along with Marian’s class. My first painting from April, 2020.
Marian offered a few more live painting sessions and I was able to follow along and learn so much from her, and it gave me the confidence to try to paint on my own. Some turn out well, and others not so much, but that seems to be the way of any new pursuit. I’m working at trying to paint more often than once a week, and my goal is to paint something every day. Even if what I make isn’t worth sharing, it’s better than making nothing. The surest way to fail is to never try.
Here’s one of the paintings I finished recently. It’s a picture of the Olad, a schooner that sails out of Camden Harbor, sailing by Curtis Island. My mom loved it when she saw it, so my husband framed it and we gifted it to her for Mother’s Day.
I still have a lot to learn, but I’m so glad I started when I did, and I’m so grateful for the generous spirit of others to teach what they know (and for the technology that allows me to learn right in my own home.)