Mom's Night Out

My husband had the perfect idea for a Mother's Day gift.

He offered to send me, my mom and my mother in law to a paint night at a local art studio.  I invited my sister along and just could not wait for our paint night!


I LOVE painting.

I started taking art lessons with my grandmother and my older sister when I was in grade school.  My sister's schedule didn't allow her to continue on with lessons as long as mine did and I have extremely fond memories of being picked up at school once a week by my grandmother and going to our class.

I was still going to classes well into high school.

I love the smell of turpentine, the feel of the paint flowing from my brush onto the canvas, turning a white blank canvas into a beautiful picture.

I have framed art work all over our house; most of which I made myself.

I took many an art class in college and minored in fine arts.

I wanted to be an art teacher.

And yet, with three boys, a large house, homeschooling, crafting, scrapbooking, laundry, dishes, etc., etc., etc., I never have the time to paint anymore.  Or maybe it's that I don't make the time to paint anymore.  Painting is more involved than my other crafts; I have to make more of a mess, bring out more supplies and make sure they're cleaned up with brushes washed before I can walk away.

I am often uninspired as to what I should paint and have gotten rid of so many of my supplies along the way.

In starting the 100 Days of Art Challenge with my boys I realized just how much I was missing that creative outlet in my life.

So, for me, our paint night out was the perfect Mother's day gift!

Before I even left the house I knew where this painting was going to hang and what colors I wanted to include.   I am remodeling our bathroom around it!

We had such a great time!  Even if our paintings didn't turn out the way we thought or perhaps hoped they would we laughed, talked, connected and created together. There were 35 people in this class and you could hear some low murmuring here and there but mostly I noticed the music, the feel of my brush on the canvas, and I thoroughly enjoyed mixing up new colors.

Our completed paintings 
It was the perfect way to spend my mother's day.  Spending time with three of the most important women in my life, taking time away from my kids to rest and recharge, and getting to relax with a paintbrush in hand and a palate of paint colors.

The instructor is wonderful and so sweet.  She took us through the painting step by step showing us how to mix up the colors she was using (which I did not), how to paint the backgrounds, how to form the flowers and grass, etc.  Most people who attend these paint nights are not painters and do not consider themselves crafty either and while all of the paintings were unique they all came out lovely.


Linking Up With:

Embracing Change

Comments

  1. How wonderfully thoughtful of your husband to send the mothers in his life out to enjoy a night of painting! So jealous!

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    1. I was stunned when he thought of it! I would never have thought of that and we had such a great time. (of course once he thought of it I did have to co- ordinate schedules, plan it, and book it but that was OK!). It was definitely the thought that counted.

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  2. What a great idea! And I LOVE all your paintings! Such a great idea.

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  3. What a great idea! And I LOVE all your paintings! Such a great idea.

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  4. Very pretty! That's such a sweet Mother's Day gift! I love painting too and have been trying to learn more about it. A class like this sounds great! : ) Thanks for sharing! #LLMLInkup

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    1. It really was wonderful! My mom has never painted anything before and she was so nervous. Many of the students were first timers and they all had a wonderful time with a pretty picture to bring home when it was over.

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  5. What a gorgeous picture!! I'm glad to hear that you had such a great Mother's Day!

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  6. You are all really talented. While I agree it was a perfect Mother's Day gift, I can totally assure you I would have never created such beautiful paintings. I can do a lot of things, but drawing and painting are definitely not in the list...
    Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party this week!

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    1. I don't know.. that sounds just like my mom. She had never drawn or painted anything and is not very crafty (give her a sewing machine or some knitting needles and she can really go to town but painting; not so much). She was apprehensive about going and even leaving kept saying she was going to hang the painting in her closet when she got home but she did admit that it was a lot of fun. If you find the right teacher you can do it; these classes are meant for beginners who have no idea what they're doing. My kids have participated a few times and my son had his birthday party there-- all 10 kids had a wonderful turtle painting to bring home and they all came our amazingly well. They break everything down into real simple shapes and go around offering to help. It's great.

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  7. You did a wonderful job. I love the flowers and the colors. Those painting parties are really enjoyable. I attended one with my daughters. Although my painting did not look like yours. It was a good laugh though.

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    1. Thanks! I actually just painted my bathroom yesterday to match the flower colors I chose. It was a lot of fun and we laughed a lot. My mom was quite funny; she's not much of an artist and she kept cracking us up with her remarks.

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  8. What a wonderful idea! I would love to do that sometime. I've not had painting lessons but I have dabbled in it some and always enjoy it. Love seeing the picture with your finished paintings. Looks like you all had great fun! Blessings! Thanks for linking with #LMMLinkup!

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