7 Lessons from my Canvas
Art and Article By Pamelagrace Beatty
I’ve been painting off and on most of my life. Since retiring, kind of, I’ve allowed myself to paint as much as I can. I paint because something inside me won’t let me not paint! Just won’t let me stop. I have found, since I have spent more time in my kitchen studio that I am continually learning, not only about painting but life as well. For example:
- Do What you Love!
When something catches my eye and I have a warm or excited feeling about it, I paint it. I don’t paint to sell. I don’t ask myself, “Humm, I wonder what people would like to buy?” Who knows what people would like to buy? Evidently, I don’t. I painted 19 pictures of flowers and stripes just for the fun of it. I just knew people would buy those paintings. They were smaller than my usual ones. They were less expensive. They were bright and fun. What’s not to love? I’ve sold four of the nineteen and was surprised when someone bought the fourth one. Fortunately, I love them and have them all over my house. So there.
But then, in a fit of pique and annoyance at the long winter, I decided to paint a picture of my back yard. We’re not talking Home and Gardens material, OK? Just a plain old back yard with lots of grass, some trees, a weather worn fence and dead flowers that probably won’t come back in the spring (but they did). I painted the back yard in bloom. All green with flowers in the tubs and the trees with green (see the photo). It was nice to imagine my backyard in the spring instead of being covered with snow and having a gray sky as a background. I uploaded the painting on my website and immediately a friend called me and wanted to buy the painting. I was shocked. I never expected anyone but me to love that painting. This reinforced my belief that you have to “do what you love” and “trust your inner voice.”
- Take Chances!
As people, we like to stay with what we know. We are not fond of getting out of our comfort zone. Remember that adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”? I used to hear that constantly when I worked for a manufacturing company. Then one day the culture shifted to “If it ain’t broke, break it!” That may not make sense right away, but the point was to get the employees to work more creatively. The company leadership knew that it was important to be innovative, ahead of the curve, or they would get left behind. We are a problem-solving culture. Problems hatch our creative processes. People in general don’t like taking chances, except for those dare devils who do, but they are not the majority. Sticking with the usual sets us up for a boring life and impedes our growth. We are either growing or disintegrating, one or the other.
- Don’t Judge the Cake by the Batter!
How does that show up in my painting? My work is eclectic. Although my art teachers have said my style is inconsistent (true), I find exploring different subject matter to be way fun and quite exciting. So, I try new things. Sometimes I have really good results (in my opinion) and sometimes the paintings go in the garage, or I paint over them. But I like living that way. It makes life juicier. Taking chances in our everyday lives can make life juicier too. Just because we are retired or on our way to being retired, doesn’t mean we have to stop growing.
Did you like eating cake batter as a kid? I did. I loved licking the batter off the electric beaters. These days the health-conscious gurus would probably choke at the thought. Whether you did or didn’t lick the batter off, we all know that the cake is very different once it’s baked. When it comes to work projects, creative projects, including food, we know we can’t judge until the project is complete. Another old saying, “The proof is in the pudding.” Remember that one? It is a good idea to get feedback on our efforts, especially when we are trying something new. From time to time, I have shared my project with others to see what they think and have received good information. It is important, however, to carefully choose whom to ask. It is also important to get that feedback at the right time; not in the early stages when unsure or still really experimenting. I will try a new recipe on myself before serving it to friends. I also rarely ask for opinions about my art in the initial stages. Others can’t see my vision or feel what I am trying to portray. All they see is the “batter” when I see a “cake.”
Sometimes, when we are in the midst of making something happen, it is hard to believe it will turn out well. Especially when the process is prolonged. We have all seen a house under construction. The scaffolding does not look like the finished product. The builders have a blueprint of what the house will look like in the end. They don’t despair over how the skeletal support looks. They don’t see that as the house, only the bones of it. Sometimes we judge our efforts too quickly, and even give up on them midway, because it doesn’t seem to be turning out the way we had hoped. But maybe giving that project or situation more time and effort would help.
- Let It Sit!
I always hang my newly-completed painting on a wall where I can see it often. I may let it hang for a few days, a week, months. Sometimes I am finished when I think I’m finished. Sometimes not. I will adjust things here and there. Add more color, change color, adjust shapes and so on. The painting is always up for change until it goes out of the door with its buyer.
Letting things in our lives sit, before we react, or worse yet, overreact, can be a good thing. For the past year, I have given myself a 24-hour time out when something happens, and I want to react right away. It has saved me from damaging relationships and helped me think of better ways to handle what I am upset about. Once I have cooled down a bit, I find myself able to see the other side of things and/or form a better way to talk about them.
- Try Again, and Again and Again!
A friend of mine was telling me about his talented kid who could do so many different things. He also said that when the kid ran up against something he couldn’t easily counter, he dropped it and went on to something else. He didn’t give himself a chance to really work at it until he became good at it. Figure drawing was (is?) a challenge for me. I have been good at drawing the face of someone, and having it look like them, since I was a kid. But I was not so good at drawing bodies. I took several figure-drawing classes and still I have to work at getting the body right. I keep trying. I know that if we keep working on something we are destined to get better at it even if we don’t get as good as we would like; at least we tried.
- There is Something to be Learned in Everything We Do!
As we try and try again, and take chances and try not to judge, we still may have a painting we put in the garage. Forever. The question then is, what did we learn through that experience? Rather than complain about how awful something was, switching quickly to what we learned from the experience changes the whole game! It makes us less of a victim. We are in control when we can analyze our mistakes, learn from them and do better the next time.
When we don’t take the time to learn from our mistakes, of course we are doomed to repeat them. I talked to a friend who had been married four times. I asked him what he learned through being married so many times. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. He didn’t answer. I thought, “Number five will be interesting.” Again, it helps to look at what we learn about ourselves in situations that turn out not as good as we hoped. It can help pave our way to a better experience in the future.
- I DID it and Thank You!
Sometimes, when I finish a painting, I sit on the floor in front of it in awe. “I did that! It came from me! Wow!” Not every painting I do is a Wow experience, but it is good to appreciate the thought and effort that went into it because I did put time, work, and money (think canvases, paints, brushes) into producing it. So often we take what we do for granted. We complete a project and jump to the next one without giving ourselves some appreciation for having done what we did. In our work lives, past or present, it may have been standard operating procedure to just keep working, crossing a task off the list and moving on to the next one.
Good leaders will take time to celebrate the successful completion of projects, but most just forge ahead. By taking time to be thankful, to ourselves, to those that helped, and for the outcomes we produce, we, again, add to the quality of our lives. Of all of the lessons learned from my canvas, this one is the most important. Remember to find reasons to say and be thankful always. It’s not that hard and the payback is life giving.
