In 2020 I began studying Chinoiserie art. In the beginning, it was hard. It was SLOW. It was painstaking.
Part of the process is painting with two brushes in one hand. One brush has color, one blends it out. You have to act fast. It’s so frustratingly hard but when you get it right, it’s OH SO satisfying.
One night back in 2020, just when I felt like I was getting good at it & after I’d spent two hours on this flower, I dropped a paint-filled brush in the middle of a painting… In the middle of white space! I screamed in terror and heartbreak. You can see it here under the left of the flower.
At my in laws’ lake house, we don’t get many TV channels (which is part of the charm), so we end up watching a lot of Bob Ross painting videos. On one episode, he made a mistake & giggled (in contrast to me – acting like the end was nigh), then said “there are no mistakes. We will just make these trees bigger. They’re happy trees.” He drops so much wisdom, y’all.
My husband (and my Instagram followers) encouraged me to KEEP GOING on this painting. And I did. You know what? I like the little dark spot. It looks like I learned something. It looks like, to me, not giving up. It’s a little freakin’ masterpiece!
If there’s something that brings you joy, DO IT. If you need more practice, get going! As I learn about audio production, mixing and mastering, I’m failing all over the place! But you know what? I KINDA LOVE IT. I love knowing that my mess up comes because I’m chasing my dreams. I love that my paint brush falling means I’ll never try to swing my brush around like that again & I’d be better from then on. I love that my girl Diane Hill tells me to paint leaves over & over (& over) again until I get the technique down. Every leaf is a triumph. What’s your goal? What are the leaves along the way? Start going. Start being okay with failing.
Just pick up your brush!