Never Too Old To Learn

This title is fitting as today is my birthday, but that’s not really the point of this post. I’ve been painting for 12 years now, and I’m totally self-taught (notwithstanding the single art class I took in college in 1975). I’m what others would call a “tight” painter, and not tight in the positive sense.

I paint methodically, slowly, carefully. Over the years I’ve gotten faster, but have still painted with restraint. Then I began a collaborative project with my artist friend, Theresa Fike. She is the art director for the Singing Christmas Tree for Capital Christian Center here in Sacramento and needed some help painting sets and one of their banners.

While I was thrilled with the offer, I was a bit anxious as I’ve seen Theresa’s work and it’s nothing short of spectacular. But off I went to work on sets last Thursday.

This is a picture of the back sets. We’re still working on the downstage (closest) ones which will have more detail.

While I was painting, Theresa kept reminding me to paint looser, less detail. I was finally getting the hang of it and the day was over. Then she invited me to her studio warehouse to work on a banner.

I have to give her a lot of credit because she just handed me a piece of chalk and told me to sketch the fruit onto the canvas. (sorry, I didn’t have my camera for the ‘before’ pics.) Ok, I thought, I can do this. Then she told me to just dive in and begin painting. The first tricky part was this was the 2nd banner and it had to coordinate with the one she had already painted.

I didn’t even know what colors she used, not to mention our painting styles are radically different. But she was undaunted and I pressed on. She again gently reminded me to loosen up, to basically just get the paint on the canvas.

After a short period, I felt like a ‘real’ artist and was just dabbing paint on, mixing colors on the canvas rather than my palette. We’d switch positions with each other and add our own touches to add consistency to the piece. We finished this 9’ x 3’ piece in just a few short hours. It was an amazing, eye-opening experience for me – to paint that fast, that carefree.

Here are the banners being installed.

And here they are with the tree in the middle. I helped on the della robbia banner on the left.

Pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself. So, suffice it to say, she opened an entire new world to me. While it may take me some practice to paint that freely by myself, this old dog is willing to try something new.

I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.

Colleen