Have you ever tried painting a picture of any sort?

Painting is one "craft" that I am absolutely no good at, unlike some of my friends.

I have tried it a few times throughout my life with no success and it does not really interest me to try and do again even though I love looking at art exhibitions and own paintings.

Perhaps it is just not my thing!

by Finy

I hear you, Finy. Maybe our wrists and brains are too rigid. That's my excuse anyway :-))))

wrists and brains!!! hmmm, had not thought of that!

I'm full of good excuses. Heehee!!

Have you ever considered,Finy,that you 'paint pictures' with your amazing recipes for the food we eat and enjoy? My son is a chef,and cannot paint pictures on a canvas,but his work with food is his way off creating something beautiful.The creativity is definitely there within you!!

I have always been inclined towards art and related fields! When I did an oil painting for art at school when I was 13,my parents had to verify that it was actually my work as the teacher would not believe that I could have done it! I was SO upset as I had put such a huge amount of effort into it.I still have this painting of a sunset behind palm trees.I was inspired by the holiday we had just had in Queensland,and the colours were so cheerful compared to winter in Melbourne where we lived! I have done works in oils,watercolours and goauche,as well as simply drawing with pen-and-ink or pencil. I love all forms of art,though abstract is my least favourite I think!
I have done calligraphy as well for as long as my memory serves,and I find it extremely relaxing as well as beautiful.

by Jules

Oh! Jules, I can relate to your bad experience with an unbelieving teacher! I was in Grade VIII, & we had ten questions on 'Current Affairs'. I got 10/10, & my teacher accused me of cheating, as the 'brainy kids' in class, didn't score as well as I.
Mum was up at School the next morning, & really got 'stuck into' the teacher! I remember her saying, 'my child listens to the ABC News on TV at 7pm, & Radio at 7:45am, every day. THAT'S where she gets her good knowledge of 'Current Affairs' from, & she also reads the paper daily!'
So teacher had to apologise to Mum, & I. Good!

Most of my teachers right through to the mid 70's were really wonderful and very encouraging.It was just that ONE art teacher who was weird,but we all thought that it was due to the fact that she could not draw or create at all well herself! She'd have made a super maths teacher instead!! Hee Hee Hee!!!
I have always loved all forms of lettering which is probably why I became a sign writer and display artist for my career,and this involved a lot of my favourite thing:Calligraphy! It's little wonder I collect illustrated antique and old,mainly children's books .I can see where my early inspiration has come from now when I rediscover all the treasures in my huge collection!!

auja77@gmail.com :-)

Hey Rice.... is this address what I think and hope it might be?

Yeah, baby! LOL

Oh! Rice, may I use too? Cheers!

Silly sausage, donjo . . ! I put it on one of yours too! Bahahahaha.

That's ok, Jules, not everyone has to like abstract art! I still like you! It would be a boring world, if everyone liked the same things, wouldn't it? (See my reply!)

I do paint, have for the last 32 years.
Years ago I worked for a well known 'Art supply company'.
Paints were free, so I gave it a go.

To their surprise they said I had talent!
So it has worked out quite well. I have had a fair amount of success in selling over the years, but you really have to be in the Mood.

It is not easy, it takes time and a lot of patience.

At the moment watercolours are my favorite.
I paint landscapes, mainly the Blue Mountains as we lived there for a few years, and you never forget.

My advice to anyone who would like to give it a try in Watercolours, you need to use a ''Kolinsky' paint brush - good quality paints -
good quality paper....Or you may never want to paint again. :)

by jonaja

Clever you! How nice to be able to create something lovely.

A dear friend's mother began painting when she was 72,and her works are stunning!!! I even sold some of them for her when I was working Age and talent do not have to go hand in hand.I believe it is just within our being! We can all create SOME thing in our own way.Finy is a brilliant cook,some folk are fabulous with sewing,gardeners also create beauty.ALL of us have a certain thing which is just us! I can easily believe that you paint beautifully as you have a very kind outlook on all that surrounds you.

Jules.......WELL SAID!



Bravo.....I totally agree, and if people would just give it a try, and stick with it who knows :)

It is such a wonderful thing to have a go at!!! And you also can meet some fabulous and truly lovely people through doing this sort of thing!

exactly :)

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
My brother has the painting talent in my family. My talents clearly rest elsewhere. Pfffft.

by Rice

LOL Rice -mine too -I think Jonaj is very good and is modest.....

Yes finy, I am sure you are quite right about our dear jonaj :-)

Oh! you girls :)

So,dear Rice.... where DO your talents lie,apart from always managing to bring a delighted smile to my face after reading your comments?!!! That is a thing definitely worth being able to do!!

Probably no more than most mere mortals, my dear . . . just that I can find humour most places . . . which can sometimes annoy people; rarely, but sometimes. Tight corsets must be a b#gger. LOL

I do know what you mean!!! I only wore a corset once...a so-called 'sexy' little piece to make my wedding dress fit extremely nicely with clean,feminine lines!!! But it was off within minutes of the photos being taken! Hee Hee Hee!!!! I laugh every time I think of that particular corset,I assure you!! Like you though,I can usually laugh at most things.When I had my brain tumor out,my son got huge giggles at 11 years of age to be able to tell people that 'mum's screwed in th3e head!!!' The situation was not at all funny,but the way we coped with it was a riot of laughs!!! After all,Laughter IS the best medicine!

Painting is one skill that I would love to be able to do well. I have tried painting but unfortunately I'm not the artist type.

by AJ

Not since I was in primary school. I am certainly NOT a creative, arty type of person. My father is great painter though. He took it up when he retired. I have absolutely no desire to follow suit.

by Lluxi

Just in school but not since then.

by dwatk

Tried from when I was little. No ability whatsoever! My late Mother even sent me to Art School classes from when I was nine. No luck, even though I loved Art, & had it as a subject for Junior, which I passed. I remember painting a 'Seascape' for that exam! Great imagination, had I!
I WAS able to paint-in outlines in children's painting books, though precisely! Same with colouring-in books, with pencils!

But the 'Theory of Art' was a different story! Easily learnt all the famous paintings, & their artists'.
To this day, I love that subject, & am STILL informally 'studying' it, to my joy!

Enjoy going to Art Galleries. Would love to see the ones' in Paris, London, New York, & Moscow.

Missed out going to the Prado, Madrid, as Tour brought forward by one day! Darn it! But a beautiful Exhibition from there was at our local Modern Art building, so spent much time viewing it.

by donjo

Maybe with all of these adult styled colouring books which are everywhere now,you can start enjoying being really creative in your own way and at your own pace! I am like you in that I adore art galleries and will visit whenever I am able to. I also love seeing new talent when it is on show in council-run exhibitions. I am always inspired by what I see!!

You're so right, Jules! I've bought a couple of the simpler designs books, & new pencils. Some of the books are very intricate, & I can't do those types! Cheers!

I tried printing some out but I think I need to buy at least one book so that I get the idea of form . . in the way of pattern structure . . . it sort of got messy :(

I saw a good selection in The Reject Shop and they were almost HALF the price of other places,even online for the same books!! They had a lot at just $5 and $8 each!!!! Angus and Robertson Bookworld have a HUGE range from fairly cheap to VERY expensive(but LOVERLY!!!)for all skill levels of colouring starting at simple and going to extremely intricate! I hope you enjoy and have some fun!!

Oh! Jules, you need to stop reading my mind! Lol! That's exactly where I bought my books, & pencils, $8, $5, $3 respectively!
Yes, some of them cost the earth, especially at Newsagents! I've got to go for cheap, cheap these days!
Thanks for letting me know about the others, though! Cheers!

I am so pleased that you managed to get some of those lovely books which other places sell for anywhere from $12 to $19.99!! Hinkler put out really super craft and children's books which I have enjoyed buying for years,even for my son when he was a little person so many years ago!!!
I hope you get heaps of enjoyment from your colouring in!!

:-)

Yes. I love painting and have used many different mediums. I really enjoy it. Sometimes things turn out well and sometimes they don't!

by Aleigha

I have only every painted something well once. It was under very strict supervision. I really enjoyed it.

by Vee

No. Can't paint, draw, sketch, sew, knit, crochet or anything else creative. But I can appreciate. And I do. I appreciate gifts of anything anyone else has created, rather than anything bought or "manufactured. I buy anything that is handmade life last year at Xmas I bought 6 plain, off-white little Xmas Cards with a cross stitch Xmas Tree on the front (about 1/4 inch height) and no wording whatsoever. I just loved them and would have paid triple the price for them. I love anything hand made. As for being able to paint, I think it must be the beautiful, relaxing art or craft that one could indulge in, almost as good as reading a book.

by fran.

No I'm hopeless! Now we don't have any room in the house to paint, but my father & his sister were well known Sydney abstract artists, & their father was a landscape artist, who was a friend of Robert L. Stevenson who he met in Samoa, where he lived for 5 years, during the late 1890's. My mother also painted before I was born, & her mother bought an exhibition of English woman artists to Melbourne (Au) although she was Australian, or she set up the 1st exhibition of woman artists, I've forgotten now, & I can't ask my mum, who's nearly 96, as she has dementia now.

by Miro

WOW!!! what a very interesting heritage for you to have!!! My dear friend who owned a gallery where I worked for ages is married to a wonderful artist and all of her family members are extremely talented in some way!!! Much of their work is quite abstract and delightful compared to a lot from this genre. It's not that I dislike abstract art, it is just not my absolute favourite!! I even have some examples of it on my walls!!