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Writer's pictureCARLA FLEGEL

But.. I can’t even draw a stick man!!!….

I have a lot of people that tell me that They think I'm very talented. Thank you but... I'm not sure that's exactly true. I think what I have, what lots of people have. The desire to do it. And because I actually went out and did it (as in I paint a lot) I got better at it. That makes me look like I'm talented. Like I picked up a paintbrush, and I was just able to do this amazing art. That I was born being able to paint. That I have some secret superpower that you or somebody else doesn't have. When in actual fact .... what I have is .... the need or desire to be creative.


In my painting classes I always tell people that I think painting is a lot like learning to ski. Who goes back day two?... if you've ever been skiing, you know that you have fallen, been humiliated on the rope tow, been zoomed past by 5 year olds on the bunny hill. You come home that first night, you are very cold, very wet, very tired and very sore. But ...for some reason you're willing to go back the next day! There was something exhilarating about being on that hill, feeling that beautiful bright sunny day on your face, the endless blue crisp sky, seeing all those trees cloaked in snow, the thrill of the chair lift showing you the vista of the mountains you are on! Well ... there is some thing in others of us that actually want to go get that piece of paper out. Wet that brush. Put that paint on it and interpret the world around us in a painting or a sketch. THAT .... the DESIRE to paint or be creative is the superpower! I really think a lot of art is perseverance, persistence. The development of skill and the emergence of 'talent' ... can be taught... can be honed... can be learned ...and you CAN develop into an 'artist'.


I decided a decade ago that I would learn to play the fiddle. Luckily I had a studio outside of the house where i could go to learn to play! It's AWFUL .... It is a quite awhile before you have music. And even then it's a while before you really want to play that music in front of or with other people. And it hurt. My fingers hurt a lot when I first started, my shoulders ached, it was frustrating. But there was something that made me get that thing out of its case. I would put on the recording and try and play that music. And now, although I'm not taking it on the road.... even now. I enjoy being with other people that have taken the time and gone through the hours of practice and learning to play the fiddle. So what I'm trying to get out here is that most people go and take one painting class and then say ... I'm no good at this.... I am not a painter.... I can't draw .... whatever the excuses that you have. But I can tell you that I wasn't a musician the first time I scraped that bow across that fiddle so it does take time ...it does take perseverance. But there was some desire that made me want to play music.


So if you want to paint, if you want to have that enjoyment of looking at the world through a different lens, then go get some paint. Go get some brushes. Take some of these basic simple classes that will help you build the skills necessary to paint. It's just a piece of paper... useful as fire starter... there's lots more... there are two sides to it... it doesn't have to be PERFECT the first time! do your own creative thing... paint the things you want to paint ....the way you want to paint them... AND.... MOST IMPORTANT... WE... could be SKETCHY FRIENDS!

CARLA

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