Picasso, I Am Not...But...

Today was the beginning of a three-day meeting at work.  The meeting was good, but the activity afterward was a lot of fun.  One of my co-workers who was helping with the planning of the meeting had been telling me that I, especially, was going to love this activity.  I was truly uncertain about that, but in the end, I did!

I feel like I am somewhat creative.  Nothing extraordinary, nothing special.  But, I HAVE had my moments where brilliant things have poured forth from this brain and these hands of mine...a few, anyway.  But, one thing I have always wanted to be able to do was paint...and I never have been able to...except paint walls with a big roller and such.  No, see, I've always wanted to be able to paint with watercolors or acrylics or the like.  But, I've just never had "the touch."  I've tried a few times and every time I painted something, it was awful.  So, I've just never pursued it or worked to perfect improve it.

Fast forward through 40+ years of not being able to paint and guess what our activity was...yep, painting something artistic.  When we walked in to the studio, all I could think to myself was, "Great, I am gonna suck at this.  What on earth was Jessica thinking?"  But then I realized she knew nothing of my lack of painting talent.  She'd only seen other crafty things I'd done and so, like most people, she likely thought craft A = craft B.

Our whole group at "Me the Artist" in Scottsdale, AZ

But...when I heard there was a prize for the best painting, something inside me kicked into gear and I paid super close attention to the artist and her instructions.  And...drum roll please...this is how it turned out!

Yeah, it may not be that great to most people and yeah, it may not resemble the artist's picture exactly, but people's interpretations of art rarely, if ever, do.  They sure didn't in this case - look at all the variations of the picture in the group shot!  It's close though and that's what pleases ME.  See, I have to make it look like the original first - in almost everything I "copy".  Then, that's when I do something to make it my own...like the Swarovski crystals on my flowers.  I felt like it was just blah without them.  Now, I love it.  And, I guess a few other people did too because I ended up winning!

I'm proud of it - not in a bad way though.  I'm proud of it because I feel like I actually finally painted something pretty, something good, something I was happy with when it was done.  I'm proud of it because it was actually good enough that a bunch of people voted for it - which I never had the self-confidence before would ever happen.

It's bright.  It makes me happy.  I have it hanging up at my desk at work.  And, I think I'll leave it there for those times when I need a little uplift during a rough day.