My starry night: a paint-covered lesson

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams

For more than a year I’ve been dying to try my hand at the Starry Night Studio, offered at the Community Arts Center and I finally got to! 

We all started with
what you see here —
a blank canvas.

Not going to lie, I was pretty nervous going into Tuesday night. But I was also so excited. Pretty sure I was bouncing — you’d have to ask Jim to be sure.

Starry Night, besides being the name of a famous Vincent Van Gogh piece, is the name of a class where “students” are taught how to paint something — sometimes a famous work of art, sometimes something more unique to the center. A class is offered every few weeks with a new painting.

Walking in alone, especially as an introvert in a new social situation, is frightening enough. To know we were all going to be painting made it even more so. But, I love painting — it’s one of my many side hobbies — and really wanted to give it a whirl. 

Sometimes you have to get over your fears and just go for it. And you can never take yourself too seriously.

I got a little mixed
up on my lines.

The awesome part about the class was that we all start with the same thing. Sure, some people may be more comfortable using acrylic paints and some people may never have put paint to canvas in their lives, but they all started with a blank canvas, seven colors of paint, two plates, four brushes, paper towels and a cup of water. That’s it.

And with the help of our great instructor Traci Thompson, we all walked out with our own versions of a masterpiece. None were exactly perfect, but, as she said, Van Gogh wouldn’t have cared too much about being perfect, either. They were all pretty good, considering.

We started with “sketching” an outline of the buildings and the like in yellow paint. It was covered up eventually, so it’s okay if you messed up. I certainly did and had to adjust my lines a few times. 

I was a little nervous at this
point. That wall on the left was
giving me trouble.

Then we filled in our sky. Mine kept getting tweaked the whole time. That’s the thing about painting, you can just keep tweaking and tweaking — sometimes it gets better, sometimes it gets worse and eventually you have to stop.

As the picture began forming, I think we all started feeling a little more confident. But there were still moments of faltering faith in our skills. For me, the buildings in the top left corner were never quite right. And my cobblestones were a little heavy on the dark colors.

But by the end, I was satisfied. And actually happy with my creation. Sure, it’s not going to win any look-alike awards and I could never pass for a forger, but it’s not too shabby for my first try.

I even hung it on the wall after it dried.

I think there’s a lesson to learn in taking the Starry Night Studio classes and it’s not really to do with the painting.

The lesson is to get over yourself, get over your fears and just try. You might be surprised. The guy to my left did a pretty awesome job on his. Others, while they may not have excelled, seemed to really enjoy the time spent with their friends. That’s what it’s about.

After all, life’s too short to take yourself too seriously. Especially when you’re covered in paint.

What do you think of my finished
creation? I was pleased.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

I finished! And I'm barely messy!
(The paint on the apron wasn't mine!)

The after pic with the whole group.
Everyone did a great job!

Visit the Community Arts Center site to see more of the offerings! They have a ton of classes.