Unleashed!!!! :p

Well, I decided to start this blog "showcasing" whatever artwork I manage to create- in imitation of my friend Gloria, who set the example for me in blogging her paintings. Aside from being a fabulous artist and photographer, she always has taken the time to answer my nosey questions.. I have been further inspired by my friend Chris (An artist in her own right- one who gets paid!), who innocently asked, "Do you paint?" and thus got me thinking about it again.

It took three trips to Hobby Lobby before I could get myself to buy anything. On the third day, I went to check out and discovered that not only were all brushes 50% off, ALL art supplies were 30% discounted! Whoa! After I put my bags in the car, I did what any sensible person would do....I went back in and bought some more. I like the look of oils, but remembered from my childhood when my dad tried to teach me a thing or two, that they are not quite so easy to clean up. So I chose acrylics since they are water-based. After some of the research I did online today, I think I may like to switch to oils later on, maybe give it 6 months? I would like to do portraits.

I bought a book on beginning painting and set to it. Well, first I was trying to draw something so I could paint it. (I am better at drawing than painting.) I sat on the porch reading the book and trying to draw, but my 7 year old daughter was dying to open the paint and stuff I bought. She LOVES to do projects. She even has a pretend TV show she stars in, called "Project World With Anna". (In fact, she is currently doing a project whereby she tears up pages of magazines and tapes the pictures to a piece of notebook paper, then does a crayola drawing around it. This can get quite messy.) So anyway, I told her I would let her use my bottles of acrylics that I already had, along with some extra brushes I had bought with the little ones in mind. (I also have a 3 year old son.)

It must have taken at least half an hour to get all this stuff set up on our front deck. Thank goodness I had help! Anna and Joshua brought two children's tables, two children's chairs, and a small patio table, and lined them up with the two discarded dining room chairs and plant table that were already on the deck. (In addition to the small bistro set I was using for my stuff.) So it was rather crowded. We got the paint, and Anna found one of the few remaining packages of notebook paper...left from the 50 or so packages I bought during back-to-school time. The girl is a menace to trees. I forgot to get them any art paper. Josh did not think he had enough water. He kept going inside and geting new water, and it took me awhile to wonder where he was getting it. Anna had helpfully brought out a large stainless steel mixing bowl of water and spilled quite a bit, so I went inside to get a towel, and found the bathtub faucet running- that was the faucet within Josh's reach, duh!

I spent most of the time trying to keep Joshua from painting the porch. There are several red patches out there now, and some green. My husband has not said anything about it yet, but that's what he gets for going fishing. Josh also made some corrections to Anna's paintings, which were laid out to dry, which she did not appreciate. I finally convinced them they should do something else, then I spent another half hour or so cleaning the mess and carrying all that stuff back inside. It was quite exhausting and I never painted a thing!