Sharon made me do it!

[Janel Maples]

Sharon, my favorite Aunt,

Not that I am happy you painted acres of god-awful paintings but, let me tell you, it is so refreshing to learn that I am normal. I am patiently waiting for my wheels to come off. They are still on, and will be for some time, because unlike riding a bike, none of this comes to me without having to really, really think about it. But do you know what? Of all the problems to think about solving, I can't think of a more pleasant one.

It isn't a secret that I am really happy I took the plunge as well. I hope my excitement is oozing from my posts. Not knowing if I could do it without the help of tools was a burden that I really needed to unload.

And Steven,

Loved your post! There is that saying "the truth hurts".

One of the reasons I have shared my feelings, and giving you more information than you wanted to know, is that I think there may be others out there who feel the way I felt. I want to share, with them, the enlightening feeling I've experienced. By taking the plunge, that icky, "am I an artist or just really good at coloring?" feeling I had about myself is GONE. If someone else shares that feeling about themselves or asks that same question, maybe trying this will help them feel better like it did for me.

I will paint from a photo reference again. I would be kidding myself if I said I will never go back. But again, this exercise in painting from life wasn't about doing it just to be able to see great colors and subtle transitions, it was to see if I could do it.

And that was frightening. I'll be honest, if I hadn't kept with it, LONG after I thought it was hopeless, my answer would have been "I guess I can't". Some days my progress was so small it was hardly noticable. Some days I went backwards. But I refused to give up because those tools were not going to take what I loved to do as as child away from me.

The next time I paint from life, I am confident that I will be able to solve the problems and get to where I want to go, if only one baby step at a time.


Linda,

Thank you for your kind comment about my painting. I think you are right about the endorphins; something has been released.