Dabbling into our creative 'talents'

Talent is something you're born with, skill is something you build. I don't know which of these my gorgeous Mum and I are exercising in our painting class every Wednesday, but either way we're getting right into it and feel we're producing some fairly decent pieces for the wall!

Margaret River TAFE hosts the class; around twenty students attend each week. Our peers are mostly women aged 40 and over, but there is one girl around my age, and two guys. Some people look like they've done it all before. Others, quite like Mum and I, are amateurs.
The teacher introduces us to a particular task, demonstrates this task, then leaves us to use the relevant supplies and have a go at it ourselves.

Here's what we've brought home so far...

My shell - was a little tricky to pick out the shades at first because it was all so white

Mum's banksia - I really love the shape of this and the obvious changes in tone

My banksia - view from the side

Task 1: We selected a natural object from a box of things like wood, rocks, etc. and were asked to sketch and shade them in tones of grey. We actually mixed the grey ourselves - making black out of red + green + blue paint, and then adding various amounts of white! I didn't even know this could be done before. I chose a shell, then swapped with Mum who had painted a banksia.

Task 2: We were asked to bring in our own objects from home and create a composition we liked, before painting it, again, in greyscale tones. I chose some apples and the lantern we found in remains of a house that had been burnt down in the Margaret River fires last year, and Mum chose some lemons in a colander. 

My Mummy looking like a true artist

Mum's final masterpiece (her first painting ever !). Interestingly, her best lemon (back, right) was never really there to start with, she created it. 

Task 3: We were asked to apply colour! This actually took me a little longer than the timeframe we were given, so I completed it at home. The teacher told me I had set a challenge for myself with the folds of the sheet, and the glass.... she wasn't wrong haha. 

But I'm really happy with how it turned out, especially the apples! I could see this orangey kind of tone in them, but didn't want a bright orange to clash with the red, so I mixed up this milky salmon colour.... It seemed really gross on it's own, and when painting with it I was like, "Arghhhh what have I done!?", but when you take a step back it works amazingly well.

In contrast to art class in Year 12 where it was all about pleasing the teacher and getting a good grade, this class experience is a lot more relaxed, I find, and therefore a lot more enjoyable. You know how people write on their life to-do lists things like: Attend a cooking class, Learn to knit, Take up Yoga.... This painting class can take place right under them - it's fun and exciting, and you're not pressured to be Van Gogh or to pay your bills with your skills by the end. It's just another thing to try.

Hope I can show you some progress in weeks to come!

xZ