I failed art at high school. It harks back to those first years of formal education back in the early 60’s when teachers would rap you on the knuckles with a ruler for colouring outside the lines. This torture continued as I progressed to learning cursive writing using a slope card. Do you remember them? If you failed to negotiate the appropriate guidelines you copped another slap on the wrist. Add this to learning to write using an inkwell and having to earn your “pen licence” and I was petrified throughout most of years at primary school. No wonder I never took to art…….(Don’t even ask how arithmetic classes affected my mental wellbeing, especially with an overachiever accountant as a father.)

Years later in my own home I rebelled and let loose developing a keen eye for colour : colour and art works by developing creatives. Treated myself to a piece of art every year for years. Lost them all in the divorce from a man who only liked the interior walls of a house to be beige. Beige is Boring especially in the days when Mission Brown was splattered across every neighbourhood in Australia.
So I celebrated by painting my house feel good colours, colours that added warmth to my life, such as Sunflower Yellow and Budgie Green. Real Estate Agents laughed at my colour scheme, but it was I who had the last laugh.

In retirement, and with these days of Covid isolation and reflection, I have rediscovered the benefits of art. I still lack any artistic talent but creating something tangible and playing with colour has kept me sane. I’ve completed a couple of Paint By Number Kits ( never again, thankyou, fruit of my loins ) and successfully completed two Art Therapy study programs.

Last week we attended a guided paint workshop under the marketing umbrella of Paint And Sip. All very casual and social where you receive instructions on how and what to paint whilst grazing on BYO nibbles. Loved playing with the paints and mixing colours so much so that I will investigate local classes. It was also interesting to see that although everyone received the same instructions all results were different. Here’s a case in point :

Pablo Picasso once said ” Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” I’ve got a damn lot of dust to get rid of yet………
To end, here are five fun facts about colour:
- Mosquitoes are attracted to blue
- There’s a name for the colour you see when you turn the lights off, just before it turns dark – eigengrau
3. Red is the first colour a baby sees.
4. Pink can curb anger. Pink prisons, do you think?
5. Colour can affect taste.

And from my very own Natural Therapist, did you know that there are 66 different shades of green and that the state of your health can be determined by the number of greens you can see?
They make many of the medical tests for blood and urine to be viewed as a green scale because the human eye is most finely attuned to green and able to distinguish between many shades and tints. I love the “paint and sip” or what we have here “wine and canvas”. It is a fun activity that lets you try without pressure your interpretation of the subject… and the instructor is always available to give you a few pointers.
I was always artistically inclined. When I was in 1st grade I was enrolled in a college art class. I was a prodigy. Then I decided that art wasn’t what I wanted to do (probably because of a crabby art teacher in 3rd grade). I was never rapped on the knuckles but having a teacher sneer at my work had the same effect. Anyway I like your paint by number piece – a little bit outside the lines makes it look more like art instead of a kit!
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I think it helps to have time to explore other avenues, another positive to come out of Covid. 🙂
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Who is your very own Natural Therapist?
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You should know😉
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Art is such a wonderful way to express yourself in a safe and productive way!
And I love the fun fact at the end, I didn’t know that..
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Thanks, Sheri 🙂
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Any time and thank you for sharing!
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The green thing….that’s so cool!! Also…art should never be graded…it should just be
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Totally agree, L A. Enjoy your day 🙂
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💗
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I enjoy being creative – making some art. It is one of my life’s joys. Interesting post!
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Thanks Betty:) I ignored any creative bent for years whilst I worked to pay the mortgage and put kids through their schooling. Retirement has been the perfect opportunity to become reacquainted with creative endeavours, though it doesn’t come easy.
Next project ? A snuffle blanket for a grandfurbaby though I can’t thread a needle ( and also failed sewing).
Thanks for dropping by:)
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Love it!😁
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Thank you 🙂 Have a beaut day:)
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Usually in a new work place, I always find the art teachers the easiest to get along with. They just like art, without politics or anything.
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Yep, have to agree
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Schools and teachers have a lot to answer for. My brilliant partner won’t hand write anything because he hates his hand writing so much thanks to school experiences.
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My writing hasn’t changed over the past 45 years. It still does not meet the criteria expected throughout primary school. A lass I went through high school with assures me she recognised me from my handwriting and not my photo.
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Sixty-six shades of green?! Who knew!
I’m glad to hear you’re cultivating your inner artist. Art is always important, but it is more so now more than ever.
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You are so right : we need to nurture our inner core. Keep looking at all those greens 🙂
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