Life Lessons from a First Time (in a VERY long time) Painter

First Painting

I’ve never considered myself an artist. I’ll actually take it a step further and say, while I deeply admire many forms of art and artists, I’ve never much cared to actually create art. I do, however, consider myself a creative person - at least professionally. I take risks and thrive on new challenges. I also consider myself as innovative, a lifelong learner, and willing to try new and exciting things both professionally and personally.

Merriam-Webster defines art as “something that is created with imagination or that expresses important ideas or feelings.”

So I did find it curious that the very thought of painting on canvas was actually scary to me. There’s no doubt that I have A LOT to learn from a skilled artist in terms of brush strokes, textural effects, contrast and lighting. I was shocked,however, to also take away some valuable life lessons from my first wine and painting class.

1. Perfectionism has no place in painting. Admittedly, I’m a recovering perfectionist. My parents have MANY childhood stories to tell. Although it lost some of its hold on me during my child raising years, I still struggle with perfectionism.

When painting I learned quite quickly that most of the time, it can be fixed. It’s actually quite easy to brush over most mistakes or to explore a bit by just leaving it - sometimes the “mistake” actually makes the painting more unique or special.

2. The second thing I learned is that comparing your abilities to others isn’t helpful. When I caught myself looking around the room I could feel my anxieties start to raise and for no good reason.

In retrospect, I stopped to think about the countless times I’ve created unnecessary stress in my life because I try to stack up to someone else. One of my favorite quotes is from Franklin Roosevelt, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I was actually having a lot of fun painting and there was absolutely no reason to damper the moment.

3. The next thing I learned is that it’s really important to finish what you start. I remember when I was younger, I could hear my dad’s voice - “if you are going to start something, plan on finishing it”. Admittedly, I’m one of those personalities that gets easily bored/distracted.

My two hour paint and sip experience was anything but boring - for me, it was a perfect bite size project to keep me motivated, interested and entertained.

4. Finally, the most important thing my first (in awhile) painting class taught me was that I could paint AND in retrospect, do it well even with virtually no natural artistic ability.

This lesson really hit home for me because - I went into this experience with very low expectations and I know for a fact there’s been countless times I’ve limited myself because I wasn’t willing to give something a try. Just as important, I know I’ve missed wonderful opportunities to spend time connecting and having fun with those closest to me because I don’t want to do something out of the ordinary.

So if you are like me and haven’t tried painting in awhile, I’d recommend giving it a try. Hopefully you’ll learn a bit about yourself, others and painting but even more important, hopefully you’ll have FUN.

Paint. Drink. Have Fun!