Creativity Through Home Art and Camaraderie

Paint and sip
Of a year ago three friends and that i attended a Paint and Sip session. By visiting such an affair you have to pay a small fee and then receive a blank canvas, a tray of paints, a drop of vino (or two) or other beverage of your choice, and the opportunity to participate in 2-3 hours of "copy art". In copy art, the trainer tells you what to do, then s/he demonstrates so you copy. It is interesting and fun, especially for a novice painter including myself, but it could become tedious if the instructor works with the pace of the slowest painter (not I!) everyone waits and waits until each attendee is a the same point prior to the lesson continues. For any speed demon including myself, this sluggish pace would not lead to creativity but instead the fatigue of non-participation i really simply abandoned my leader and moved along within own pace. Having a finished product to replicate and occasion listening, I ended up with a fairly decent wine bottle representation with added touches, dashes, and flourishes of my very own.

BYOB painting
The instructor, unfortunately, has not been a teacher. She knew some techniques and then she had obviously led this lesson repeatedly in the past, but she was not attuned to her students. We plodded, she yapped; we waited and he or she yapped some more. It was clear that the slowest painter was never gonna finish but we patiently killed time just the same. During this "free" time the trainer filled any empty spots of air with criticism to her fledgling artists: "Too much color", "Stop trying to fix that mess", and "Please quit" were just some of her remarks. Really allows you to want to paint, doesn't it?

But the class had been fun because I was with friends and dibbling around with colors is entertaining and critiquing non-teacher types is a lot more so. As a result I made the decision to host my own paint and sip with no pressure applied. Ten friends gathered at my home one evening excited to test this activity. Each easel was packed with a clean canvas, water and brushes were at the ready, and an array of paint drops filled each pallet. I had created a finished example to share so that I could explain things i had done, when and how, as well as clarified some important steps just like having a damp canvas, how to cover errors with white, tools readily available for special touches, and so forth. For those who were too nervous to self-launch, I led them step-by-step with the process. For those who i would like to plunge, I let them go with maximum freedom.

As my friends painted, I wandered, offered advice, researched other bottle shapes and backdrops on the Internet, and commended their efforts. Although some replications were a lttle bit on the mysterious side, just like the command "draw a bottleneck approximately 1-inch wide" produced tiny traces and thin lines instead, nevertheless the idea was creativity understanding that was just how some translated my work to their canvas. Others, with amazing vision, added dogwood blossoms, fancy wine labels, and intricate designs with delicate shades. The inner personality was exposed in addition to imagination and magical conceptualizations in every painting. The finished products were fantastic.