Brushstroke Therapy

Being creative is in my genes!  It comes from my great-grandfather, down through my mother's side to me.  All of my family have nifty, crafty ideas and we all create beautiful works of art.  But that is really what art is anyway.  Beautiful!  Recently, my roommate Rachel and I went to Wine & Design in Raleigh.  I found W&D through a friend on Facebook.  She recently got married and for her Bachelorette Party, she went with everyone to W&D.  I love to paint!  I just bought a birdhouse yesterday to paint and hang up outside for my birds.  That being said, I felt like W&D was a no brainer!  I begged Rachel to come with me, and she finally relented!  She was a little nervous because she had never painted before, and she had some idea that her painting had to be perfect.  But perfection is in the eye of the beholder or in this case, the person with the alcohol and paint brush!

When we arrived, this was all that was on the canvas given to us.  Almost completely blank!

When we got to W&D, we simply signed in and sat down.  We talked and chit chatted with other individuals, and looking around the room, I think Rachel felt some pressure.  W&D is completely filled with beautiful paintings!  I think the paintings are amazing, and easy to recreate, but for someone picking up the brush for the first time, they can be a little intimidating!  Our instructor (Mr. Ed) stood in front of us and gave us the rules of the game: There are no rules to this game other than have fun!  Best rule ever!!  I quickly set to painting.  When I paint, I get in my zone.  It is hard for me to think about anything else, other than how I feel the colors are looking.  Rachel had some initial questions, but as the evening went on, she entered her own "painting zombie zone."  When we reached the halfway mark, and Mr. Ed told everyone to take a break, we were both amazed with not only how amazing our paintings looked, but also how amazing everyone else's looked!

My painting is on the left, and Rachel's is on the right.  Both these paintings are different and yet still extremely beautiful! 

One of my friends, Sidney, just posted on her blog, about how she needed to focus on progress, not perfection.  I think she is totally right.  We all need to focus on progress and not perfection.  I wish I had graduated as an engineer in four years, but the truth is, it took me sin years to progress out of something I didn't really like, and into agriculture, a place I am already calling home.  Rachel wanted her painting to be perfect, but as the evening went on, she realized that the progress she made was more beautiful than she could have imagined.  We all get a little too wrapped up in the final product, and when we do, we miss the little messy parts of the journey.  And that is what life is: a journey.  Everyone's journey is different, and everyone's painting is beautiful!  Progress is the perfection that we need, and the journey is what we laugh about for years to come!

These are the finished products of everyone that night!  All of them are absolutely beautiful!!  Check out me and Rachel in the yellow circle! :)

Needless to say, Rachel and I had an amazing time at W&D!  So much so, that we have planned a Ladies Night for several of our friends.  We are actually all piling in there on Thursday for the "College Night" edition.  I am painting an NCSU wolf, and Rachel is painting the NCSU Bell Tower.  I would show you what they are supposed to look like, but they won't look like that.  They will be our own creations in every sense of the word!  And we will hang them proudly around the apartment!

A closer look at mine and Rachel's paintings!  Aren't they amazing??

After all, our paintings will remind us of the amazing time we had together, laughing, painting and sharing!  We won't be roommates forever, but we totally will be painting buddies!

How do you express yourself creatively?  Do you enjoy the journey as much as you want to?  Like I said, let me know!

XOXO

Tricia