Staying an Artist

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso

Last weekend I went to Canvas and Conversations at our church. It is one of those events where they give you step by step instructions to paint a canvas. There are appetizers and desserts out. Wonderful friends and conversation starters. Each setting has a blank canvas, three paint brushes, paint palette, and cup of water for cleaning the brushes. Sounds like a perfect girls night out, even as I type it.

I quickly tried to size up my creativity skills by asking the women at my table if they were good at painting, had done this before, etc. Everyone appropriately downplayed their artistic ability, even the lady handily mixing her own paint colors and creating the most beautiful teal, blue-green color. I soothed my growing apprehension by nibbling on some delicious chocolate as we waited for the instructor to begin. 

The first stroke included three colors on the paintbrush. Within minutes, my inner perfectionist was hidden in the recesses of my soul. It gave up, I guess. Enjoying the silence, I let myself begin to enjoy the process. The joy came and went. At one point our table was so intently caught up in the project, that someone blurted out, "Am I even breathing? Breathe!"

Towards the end, we began to make flowers. I learned my best lesson of the night right then: listen to the instructor to know what you're doing and then stop listening. All the details, highlights and techniques she was giving were simply beyond my skill level. Once I let go of it and began to simply look at what I was doing and enter into what I was creating, they started to look like flowers. And the fun returned. 

My favorite part of the night was walking around and seeing 30 different interpretations of a similar piece of art. The masterpieces were as varied as our lives and it was beautiful. 

Living our best lives doesn't mean we'll all paint like Picasso, but it does mean we can silence our performance mindset long enough to enjoy creating. And once we learn to enjoy the creating, we can let it lead us wherever it wants to.

Here's to staying an artist... painting, creating, friendships, and joy.