My 2018 - This is my Hobby: Playing With Paint

I discovered the This Is My Hobby contest hosted by @anomadsoul and I felt inspired to join in.

I have so many hobbies and interest, so this is actually a challenge. I decided to take this on not for the prize, though that would be nice, but for the change to explore my thoughts deeper while writing.

What is my true passion?

My favourite hobby?

If I could only do one thing for the rest of my life, or at least until the end of the year, what would it be?

I have dabbled in many different hobbies. I have been knitting since I was 15. I learned to crochet about 4 years ago. I have sewn for years - both out of necessity and because of creative inspiration. I garden and love growing our food forest on our urban farm. I can create things from wood using tools. You name it, I have probably dabbled it in. I think the only hobby I have not pursued has been music. While I love music, being tone deaf does not make it easy for one to be a musician.

But ultimately, I am an artist.

Even though I had embraced many other hobbies over the years, I will always be an artist. I love doodling. I love drawing. I love sketching. I love sculpting. I love creating. It will always be the hobby that puts my soul at ease just by thinking of it.

But specifically, I love painting. This is my hobby.

I love being able to feel the texture of the paint as it moves across the canvas. I love playing with paint. I love mixing colours. I love getting messy. I am not afraid of paint. Sometimes I feel I, unintentionally, paint myself as much as I paint the canvas.

For as long as I can remember, I have always been connected to drawing and painting. When I was in grade 5 or 6, my mom realized this passion was not going away. She knew I had talent and did not want me to lose my passion and interest in art. She enrolled me in a private art class with a wonderful teacher named Lynn.

Lynn was passionate about art and beauty and expressed that passion through every breath she exhaled. She encouraged me to create every week in class, even when I felt stumped as to what I draw or paint. Her studio was full of treasures from around the world and she always encouraged me to pick something that spoke to me and then recreate it in a work of art.

Over the years my subject matter has changed.

I used to paint a lot of flowers when I was younger. I do not know the last time I painted a flower. Lynn used to always have fresh flowers in her studio, perhaps that is why I was so fascinated by them. I found painting flowers to be a challenge because I always painted with fresh flowers as my inspiration. This meant that I had to get my painting finished, or at least as close to as possible, within a single class because by the next week the flowers would look completely different or be gone.

After I had my first child, my subject matter shifted to animals. We had a family zoo membership and I remember being so enthralled with the animals at the zoo. Being able to get up close to them and look into their eyes inspired me to paint them.

I have painted many animals in my days, but this is a very special animal.

This is Noah.

He was a giraffe at the zoo we would frequent on a weekly basis. We lived just down the road and it was a wonderful place to take the children in the summer. One day we had the privilege of meeting one of the giraffe keepers. We had many things in common and became friends. She allowed us to get up close to her giraffes. We were able to feed Noah and interact with him. I was amazed by the beauty of this creature. He stood a massive 18 feet tall and was such an amazing creature. I took many photographs of him and felt very inspired to capture his likeness in a painting.

It took me many moons to complete his portrait, but it now hangs proudly in our rec room.

I love being inspired by what I see.

Quite often, I am inspired by beautiful landscapes. We love being out in nature. We love hiking and exploring our surroundings. I always look at nature with an artistic eye. I notice the simple shapes that come together to make complex and fascinating compositions. I love pulling out my camera or my cell phone and capturing images that peek my interest. Sometimes it is the colours that catch my eye. Sometimes it is the feeling of the location. Nature is beautiful and always inspires me to paint.

This past summer we spent a lot of time on Georgian Bay in Ontario Canada. The landscape of Georgian Bay, with its signature pine trees bent from the wind, is breathtaking.

Most of the time I paint using Liquitex paint. I love how the paint feels when it is being applied to the canvas. Sometimes, like in the painting above, I do not have that luxury and I have to make due with what we have.

When I painted that landscape, we were visiting Ontario for 3 weeks. I flew with my 4 boys with only carry ons, no checked baggage. I did not have any art supplies with me, but that did not stop me when I felt inspired. I wanted to paint a picture for my mother, who was our gracious host, and so I simply stopped in at a dollar store and picked up a canvas and some paints. Black, white, blue, yellow, and red were all I needed. Basic colour theory allowed me to mix the paint and create whatever colours I needed. This might not be my prefered way to paint, but sometimes you just have to paint even when you do not have your normal supplies.

This next painting is one I am currently working on.

We live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Canada. I can drive for less than an hour and be encompassed by mountains. We moved here 4 years ago and, before we moved, I had never seen a mountain in real life. I remember watching Bob Ross painting, and loving his mountain paintings but never been inspired to try it. Sure, mountains were beautiful but they did not speak to me. The moment I saw the mountains for the first time, which was in a blizzard in February, I was awestruck. How could something so beautiful have escaped my attention for all these years?

That is when I started painting mountains.

This landscape was inspired by one of our favourite places in Banff National Park. The location in this painting does not actually exist outside of my mind. It is a culmination of views I have pieced together in my head to form the landscape you see on that canvas.

I still have some foreground trees, bushes and other details to add. I will post the finished painting once it is complete.
But as a busy mom of 4 boys, I do not always have time to paint. If we do get the paints out during the day, it is usually a kind of painting that the children can do alongside me. It is not time for me to get deep into an art piece. When I really feel inspired or have that need to paint, I often do so after all the boys have gone to bed and the house is quiet.

When I am painting like this, I am in my head and nothing in the outside world could bother me. I enter an almost meditative state while I am painting. All the stress of the day just flows out of my head and I am at peace. It is very relaxing.

Recently, I discovered fluid painting. Fluid painting is not relaxing, but it is just as much fun.

I love fluid painting because it is the type of painting I can do with my boys.

Fluid painting, or flow painting, fulfils all my creative needs when it comes to painting. I get to play with textures while mixing the paints to the consistency you need. I get to mix colours and experiment with crazy colour combinations that are not typically found together in nature. Fluid painting also can be a very messy way to paint. Did I mention I love getting messy?

There are many different ways to do fluid painting, but my favourite way is to do a dirty pour with a flip cup. That sounds like it could be x rated but it is not. A dirty pour simply means you use one cup and layer in all of your different colours. Once you have enough paint in your cup, you flip it over. After a few seconds or a few minutes, depending on how impatient you are, you lift the cup and allow the paint to puddle onto the canvas. You can then manipulate the paint around my tilting the canvas. We love doing this.

I say we because I do fluid painting with my boys. One of the main reasons I am drawn to fluid painting is I can do it with my boys.

All of my boys, like their Mom, love to paint. They are not afraid to get messy or to express themselves. I love that I can share this hobby with them. It fills my heart with joy every time they ask to paint with me or talk about a painting they have done. I love that they have inherited an artistic mind, for I feel art can awaken your soul.

I cannot wait until the next time I can get a paintbrush or paint in my hands. Whether it be by myself in the evening, or with my boys. This is my hobby. I love playing with paint.

...and clearly, my boys do as well.

Thank you.