I try to be happy and satisfied with the gifts that God granted me, but one thing that I've always desired was to be an artist. I would love the ability to competently draw, paint, create.
But low and behold, my creative talents, to date, have been fairly hit and miss. I went through a mosaic tile obsession, a time period where I was determined to learn how to quilt, then it was wood burning, then onto paper arts (though not scrapbooking), then it was crocheting (which did actually result in one blanket for my sister, next was knitting. I'm pretty positive there were a number of other attempts in between all of these others.
I think my biggest obstacle is that I would never commit to just one medium. My mosaic tile obsession lasted for a couple of years and did result in a number of creative trays and candle holders - though I learned fast that my grouting skills, which are critical to successful mosaics, aren't just bad...they're horrible. If it's just 90-degree angles, I'm good, but once you get into broken tiles, which are more creative and interesting to work with, I'm lost on the grouting. But I digress from the point of this post.
For a while now, I've wanted to take a painting or drawing class. I was interested in challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone, even if I'm positive the results are bound to be somewhat disastrous. So when my friend Becky approached me about taking a painting class at the
Beck Center for the Arts, located right down the street in Lakewood, there was no reason to say no.
Our eight-weed Painting Fundamentals class started last night, and I had a ball. Most of the class was spent reviewing supplies and initial technique. Our instructor started us with a basic painting project - a black and white painting of a bat, so I thought I would share my initial foray into the land of painting. Heres my first take with the image I was tasked to recreate.
There were two bat pictures to select from, and Becky chose the other image. She's painted previously and definitely picked up on the theories the instructor shared much faster than I did. Here's her first project:
Turns out Becky is not a big bat fan, so she imagined she was working on a picture of a rabbit, you know a cuddlier version of a bat. I believe she "gifted" her painting to our friend Alissa this morning.
My parents, in particular, my mom would find the bat project more than a little ironic. During one of our family vacations, my mom came across a Big-Eared Eastern Bat (which I image looks a something like this). She wasted no time in making that my new nickname, as it matched with my innate ability to overhear any conversation of which I was a subject, especially when I was not one of the conversation participants.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next class. If you're looking for art, theater or dance classes, here's a link to the Beck Center's Winter/Spring Class Catalog. It offers a great range of classes for adults and youth alike.
