Dandelions in Space

Okay, so for years women of all ages have gotten in touch with their artistic sides. They'd paint screens to put in front of the fireplace, they'd paint fabric for further detailing on their dresses, and they'd paint tables in addition to canvasses. And whenever they picked up a brush they'd be creating beauty in whichever medium they chose. Victorian culture was filled with young ladies becoming "accomplished" by learning to paint with watercolors and acrylics to depict nature as they saw it. Finishing schools used to demand its pupils learn to paint, draw or somehow prudently use their creative skills. It gave them what my mother would call an "outlet" or a way to express themselves in a world where their voices were lost.

Now, I happily took art classes up through my last year of highschool, but regrettably have not had any other training since. There was never any time to squeeze in new classes, but I have managed to dabble in many crafts. I've knitted, badly crocheted, I've done wonders with embroidery and begun work with scratch art. I have not painted with acrylics in over 12 yrs though, and I have wanted to; but buying all the acrylic paints just for one or two paintings didn't seem worth it. Then I read about a paint session here in town. As it turns out big cities like Denver have paint classes where you paint a certain painting through guidance and champagne. Ft Collins does one where you can paint and sample wine. But I'm in Wyoming so the drink of choice was beer-who didn't see that one coming? The class was called Boots, Brushes, and Beer. For $40 you get brunch, a canvas, access to brushes and paints, a teacher to guide you and as much beer as you wanted to purchase. As it was 10am I opted for a cup of tea instead which was fantastic! The painting was one of a dandelion with a swirly background and "bubbles" around the edges. I thought it looked a bit hokey but I love dandelions and it would give me an opportunity to refresh my painting skills. So I went.

I had a blast! There were some men amongst the 45 or so of us attendees. The teacher walked us through with general directions: this corner and its diagonal lights, that corner and its diagonal darks. And you had to create "movement"-which I did! I chose every color I could and made it work! I dutifully added bubbles thinking they looked rather odd. And for the actual dandelion I painted from years of looking at them. Then I meandered around and looked at other's paintings so I could get ideas. One lady had an absolutely fabulous dandelion, another had incredible bubbles, one guy had me questioning whether he'd even listened to the directions even though it was somewhat working as a painting, and one particular lady was a complete rebel and painted a beach scene (no flowers or bubbles even hinted at) with her allotted canvas and paints. My painting brings to mind outer space. It's definitely a dandelion, and I painted "bubbles" as described but they came out looking like planets in a Star Trek warp speed vortex. The dandelion looks amazing but Amy joked it could be considered a star exploding into a supernova from an asteroid hit. Which leads to the off-the-wall theory that perhaps the big bang happened like a child sneezing on a monumental dandelion in a very Douglas Adams kind of manner. Therefore I'm calling my painting "Dandelions in Space" -the title should be pronounced very theatrically similiar to "Muppets in Space" from childhood days, ooh maybe even a bit of sci-fi music too: doo do doo do, doo do doo do... :)

Why do I tell this story? Because it made me remember that I am not alone in struggling to find myself. There were girls just as confused as I and we muddled through it together. There were children who painted, and young adults who chatted and older women who gossiped and muttered but we were all just having fun. And every single painting was different, unique, and outside of the class no one would probably guess it had come from a session copying an artist's work. And that was when I had another epiphany: each one of us starts out in life with a simple set of instructions and then makes our own masterpiece. I personally approach new things with dread, and haltingly start but after a while I just jump in and get to work like I've done it for years. Others just started throwing paint on the canvas and dealing with it as it went, and still others painted with an almost zeal for the details. We all hear the directions, use the same materials and yet, the results are always different and beautiful for each person. And that's perfectly acceptable.

I noticed that painting a picture was a lot like applying make-up; and at that point, I realized I've approached make-up applying from the wrong viewpoint. I figured there were absolute rules you had to know and follow before you could even put on mascara or lipstick. Therefore I've been reading Cosmo and New Beauty and other magazines trying to refamiliarize myself with how make-up works before I even attempted it when I should have just approached it as I did painting today; have a general guideline and then just play with the colors. If it doesn't work, I can always wash it off and try again. And whether it exactly matches the picture in the magazine doesn't matter, what does matter is that it's special for me and brings out my inner talents like a painting. My face and my body should reflect my artistic talent and let others be inspired by my bold choices of colors and movement; so I've decided to just go for it with gusto and see what happens. Sometimes it might be too bright, or the colors may clash or it might only be best viewed from a distance, but to truly create a work of art-you can't just study and read about it; sometimes you just have to pick up the brush, take a deep breath and remember to have fun!