Wallflowers and Wine

2016 is the year of inclusion.  Meaning Roger and I are working to include our selves in more activities, ergo  being a part of the greater community.  We always go to Winter Folk Festival (yeah I know they took folk out of the title… those fools).  We go to the Florence Home and Garden Show… mainly because the station produces it and I do a live remote during the weekend.  We always go to the Classic Car Show n Shine (though not together – because, I am working it) and KCST’s Classic Car Cruise during Rhody.  The Reedsport Chainsaw Carving Championships (a personal fav). 

There are other things we could be doing: The Power of Florence  (a day the community gives back) Roger is usually working up on my mother’s property at that point.  But me, not as much.  So where am I going with this? My friend Susan this kewl wine and painting thing and thought, “Wow, I’d do that!”  So I did.

Last night, Leigh (my best friend next to Roger) and I went to Wallflowers and Wine... I guess the name of the post kind of gave that away.  My friend Jennifer helped put it together for the Friends of the Florence Events Center (yes the same group sponsoring Dancing with Sea Lions.)  Wallflowers and Wine was led by Florence artist John Leasure, a man with a greater sense of humor than I realized. 

Step by step he lead twenty of us (nineteen diverse women - at least two were professional painters - and one man) through the creation of Sunflowers.  Now  while I have a linage that boast a few good artists, I was terrified I’d shame my grandfather, great grandmother and Joshua Reynolds.  Darn, look at me, I name dropped.  But the reality is I am really happy with my creation and not quite the embarrassment I expected.

We began with working the background – enter the first glass of red wine (Cabernet) – then  it was red (paint) from right top corner to just past mid canvas.  Then it was blue blending with the red in the middle and then downward blending into black at the lower left corner.  As we worked he kept telling us this was the hardest part.  Now I beg to differ.  As I painted on the blue, sweeping into the red I was totally loving the way the blue brush stokes were sweeping onto the red.  I loved it.

He kept saying we needed to “muddy” up the middle.  NO NO NO.  I was loving my bush strokes.  And bloppp his brush was in the middle of my canvas mudding my beautiful sweeps of blue… Into yes a truly muddy mess.  Leigh’s brush was deteriorating and leaving hairs on her canvas. Mine was not as bad, but still there is more texture than I thought there would be, but not necessarily the texture I was going for.  All the while he “muddy” into my red, the beautiful blue sweeping brush strokes that were dyyyyying like the Wicked Witch of the North.  

And then the “hard part” was done.

Why he kept insisting it was the hard part was beyond me.  We painted on our flower centers and then our stems.  In hindsight I wish I would have painted my stems and then our centers, but still it was good.

Then the hard part started… the leaves and the petals.  Now I wasn’t happy with my leaves.  He made us create a wide vee off the stem, then cap each with an upside down vee, followed with a line pained through them.  At the bottom of the first vee we were instructed to take our brush and “start wiggling back and forth”, was followed by my jiggling, and hell why not a little piggling our brushes back and forth in a small manner coloring in the bottom side of the leaf. Then again but on the topside of the leaf.  This was interesting and REALLY FUCKING HARD TO DO.  Can I please go back to sweeping strokes on my background?  Please? 

Leaves done… oh no never never... mine are unsatisfactory at best. 

After we finished our leaves we painted the petals, now this was fun, but I didn’t follow instructions… because have you ever known me to do things by the rules?  Not.  Well okay I did half by the instructions and half not. While we were suppose to sweep up towards the stem when I got to the top part of each flower, the rules flew out the window.  Adding more color and highlights to the petals was the really fun part.  Painting this picture was fun, and really hard in some respects, but it was also very rewarding. 

And voila the picture was done…

Nope, I was still trying to fix my leaves.

And do you know how hard it is to sign your name?

 

I can’t wait until the next Wallflowers and Wine.

Sith,

Cele