I have lived my life surrounded by talented artists. My brother, Ken, painted lovely oil landscapes. Both daughters are very talented in multi-media art. My sister, Linda, creates beautiful quilts and handbags while my sister, Muriel, was a folk artist. My much-missed partner, Brian, was a very talented artist who created amazing detailed paintings, stained glass works, and beautiful wood-turned creations.
I love all these talented artists.
Apart from the fact that throughout my life I've always kept busy with work, I never attempted to paint anything because I knew I could never create anything as lovely as my family members were creating. I believed my attempts could never be good enough. So, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't even try.
This kind of negative thinking was something that I finally decided to throw out the window in my senior years. But it happened in an unusual way.
My dear Brian was, sadly, experiencing a slow recovery after a motor vehicle accident. He seemed to be losing interest in life. I had an ulterior motive when I purchased the big old dining table on the buy/sell site. I had it set up in our family room in the basement, covered it with plastic and arranged painting easels at either end of the table. I set out two painting stations - one for me, and one for Brian.
My thought was that, if I share the painting adventure with Brian, the companionship might encourage him to start painting his beautiful pictures again.
Brian did once again create some beautiful work, thankfully. His wood turning, his stained glass, his paintings - all were lovely. His work was of a high standard and he enjoyed sales in the Sault Ste Marie gallery in the U.S. This pleased me, but didn't surprise me.
What surprised me was that I was having a good time playing with these colours. I soon realized that I was almost as prolific with my painting as I was with my creative writing. I was a folk artist and loving the adventure. I was hooked.
I love my painting adventure! I've received no training but I've discovered that if I start painting at 9 a.m., before I know it, it's after 1 p.m., yet I feel as though I've been painting for 20 minutes. Time simply disappears.
I'm running out of walls for all my paintings, both oil and acrylic. No one is more surprised or happy knowing that someone else has liked something I painted. I am overjoyed to say that, as of today, I have sold twenty-four paintings.
All my folk art paintings are for sale. I've sold a few pieces and how exciting it was for me to sell two large 30 x 40" acrylic on canvas pieces on New Year's Eve.
My friend, Maggie Kirton, several years ago, was publisher of my early books through her company Wynterblue Publishing in North Bay. She encouraged me with my creative writing by often saying, "Keep that ink flowing".
I never dreamed that a day would come when I'd be thinking, hey, keep that paint flowing.
Our senior years may or may not be the golden years. But, by picking up that paint brush, your years will be any colour you decide to choose.
I encourage my friends to pick up that paint brush; write those stories; sing those songs, and play those instruments. Create, create, create! You will find that, before you know it, as Wayne Dyer suggested, you gain the awareness that you are creating your own reality.