Painting In A Group

. . .Can Be Scary!

I have soooo been there!

You want to learn to paint,

you sign up for a class,

you show up, 

and. . .

so does fear and trepidation!

Thanks to the Carroll County Public Library and the Carroll County Arts Board, these folks had the opportunity to learn to paint and have a ball too!

I've gone to workshops and walked in

and immediately KNEW everyone in the room

 was better than me.

You can tell that by their shoes Sharon?  

It is scary to actually get yourself to a class 

full of other people and they might see your work,

or how you hold the brush,

or what colors you prefer,

or that you don't know something. . .

I taught two classes yesterday of eager beginning painters,

and I love teaching beginners.

They are so much fun, they want to learn,

it's all new to them,

and we usually have a ball.

I come out rejuvenated and I hope they come out feeling like they learned something and they can learn more.

But it is scary!

I hope we have enough fun to shoo that scary feeling away.

Here's some of the fun.

And here's more of the fun!

Yep!  You're seeing it right.

That lady on the right from the Senior Center showed up in a white lace dress and hat to paint.

And she got out unscathed and unpainted on her dress.

This fun bunch has lots of family in it.

One painter had to leave to get an

 allergy shot before the pic.  

I think everyone was nervous but they all did a great job.

We had a lot of fun.

OK!  I had a lot of fun

and I hope they did to.  

Click HERE to see how you can host a painting party

if you live somewhere near Carroll County, KY

Having problems understanding how to mix color?  
I've created a FREE tip sheet just for you.  
Click HERE to receive 7 Tips for Color Mixing in your inbox.  

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by today.

Oh, and give some love to my students

 in the comments section.

...It's Just Business - Motivation Monday

Core Values

as an art entrepreneur I hear the word 

"Core Values"

a lot.

"You need to know what your "core values" are so you can be authentic with your clients, collectors, etc."

As an artist I've given that a lot of thought.

When I do a brain drain on my core values

things like:

honor

integrity

authentic

consistency

practice

seeing

always come up.

Especially that honor and integrity thing.

I've never evaluated my core values without those things coming into play.  

It is a core value from deep in my soul from my dad.

Punishment for lying was always swift and severe.

If honor and integrity is a core value

 that we should all emulate, 

it doesn't seem right to seek honor and integrity

. . .except in business.

I recently had an experience where I was blind sided by the lack of honor and integrity in a business.

I've thought about it a lot lately and I want to make sure I am checking myself that I always have honor and integrity

"especially in business".

I promise to you my art friends that I will:

• never share or sell your email address,
• try to give you the very best in all my art classes,
• never  ever misuse your credit card info,
• work with you every step of the way on any commission
• not cram your inbox with tons of emails

I worked for over 20 years in retail and I never believed in a hard sell approach to selling.

I've won every kind of award and bonus as a sales person and as a manager so I believe if you have a great product you believe in, there never needs to be a hard sell or dishonesty.

I hope that you never feel I'm giving you a hard sell.

To be honest, you have to search my blog 

to find something to buy.

When I was a store manager I learned that 40% of the cost of EVERYTHING you buy is to cover shrinkage.

Shrinkage is a polite word for theft.

If we could increase and improve our honesty

in our world, think about how the price of everything

would go down.

I appreciate every single one of you who have ever read a blog post, left a comment, or left a comment on my facebook page.

I want you to know I think about you every day

and how I can help you on your journey 

learning how to paint.

Since this is an art blog, I'm sharing my most recent

piece of art.

You need something pretty to look at after all that reading.

After I finished this I realized it was painted from 2 of the classes on my website https://www.paintingwithacrylics101.com.

The daisy class is free so you can go to my website and put in your email and have access forever for the FREE daisy class.  The iris are from the Iris class on that same website.  

If you'd like to learn these skills, and they are skills so they can be learned, you can go to the website and
check out the classes there.  
There will be more added monthly, (I hope).

Don't think you're going to get it the first time.

That's why you have such long access to these classes.

You will need to practice, practice and practice some more.

Remember I said it is a skill.

Something you can learn.

Learning any skill takes lots of practice.

Don't get discouraged.

Keep on practicing.

Keep on learning.

The brush must become a part of your hand.

All of a sudden it will click and you will be amazed at what you will be able to create.

I am always amazed when something I paint 

is exactly what I was hoping for,

or is different than I was expecting but I love it anyway.

I also have days where I feel like I've never held a brush

 in my hand before.  

So don't get discouraged.  

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Click HERE to visit my website.

For more FREE instruction, click HERE to visit my YouTube channel.  While you're there hit the thumbs up button and subscribe, then click the little bell next to the word subscribe and you'll receive a notification when I upload a new video, which I try to do on Friday.  

GDPR

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Tomorrow is the big day for GDPR compliance

and I can honestly and ashamedly say,

I DO NOT know what those letters mean!

However, I do know it is a law, regulation, edict, or order from the king, that is an effort to keep your privacy in tact and safely tucked away in a wallet in a purse in a closet you'll never find again.

All kidding aside,

if you are from the United States you don't need to do anything,

but if you're from the EU or other place who cares,

you will need to subscribe to my blog again.  

I am standing here solemnly 

with my right hand raised swearing before all

that your email info is safe with me.

I have never or will never sell or share your info with anyone.

I do keep your info in my computer and use it to communicate with you about my art and art classes.

I have tried to always be respectful of your time and personal information and take the trust you have in me very seriously.

Thanks for your support and friendship over the years on my blog and website.

Things Can Change Really Quickly - Motivation Monday

12 Hours Is All It Took!

I took a walk last night around 8 p.m. and took some pics of these pink iris getting ready to bloom.

The day before, May 12, you couldn't tell they were pink,

but by 8 p.m. on Sunday evening, May 13,

this is what they looked like.

By 8 a.m. Monday morning May 14, this was what greeted

 me on my early morning walk.

This is a close up of this beautiful pink iris.

How was I motivated on this beautiful Monday morning

just by taking a walk and

 noticing the change in these beauties?

Those bulbs have been in the ground for a number of years.

They bloom each year and then after the blooms die off they continue to be green but bloomless in my garden for the rest of the summer.

Their green dies off after the first frost and then it looks like nothing is in that spot for the rest of the winter and early spring.

Then, the magic starts to happen.

As the soil and the air warm up,

green shoots start coming up out of the ground.

Then a stalks shoots up with tiny green buds on it.

Then you start to see a little color,

and then,

BOOM!

This beautiful bloom opens up for everyone to enjoy.

It's like that in life!

Often times we try to do something,

learn something,

create something,

be something,

and it looks like nothing is happening!

You don't feel like you're accomplishing anything.

You don't feel like you're getting any better.

You don't feel like you're moving that project along!

You might be ready to give up at this point.

But your success might be another 12 hours away,

just like that beautiful pink iris was.

If you're trying to learn a skill like painting,

and you don't feel like you've made progress,

I'm here to tell you, you have.

Your hand is becoming part of the brush,

You're understanding how to to use the brush better,

You're learning how to mix color better.

The results may not be in your painting yet,

But I promise if you keep going,

keep trying,

keep experimenting,

keep practicing,

One day you're going to amaze yourself!

Something incredible will just flow off your brush

and it will all have been worth it.

Don't EVER Give UP!

I don't want you to ever give up!

Ever!

If you want to learn to paint,

I want you to be successful.

It's out there for the taking!!!

Here's a free lesson just for you.  

Click HERE for your free lesson.  

First Saturday in May - Motivation Monday

Nothing Motivates Like 

The First Saturday in May

The Kentucky Derby is called

 the fastest two minutes in sports.

And that's probably very true!

But, many thousands of people plan for a year

for that very fast two minutes.

Click HERE for the Official Kentucky Derby Festival Site.

Things to plan for include:

Thunder Over Louisville - air show and fireworks

Balloon Glows, glimmers and races,

Bed Races,

Marathon and half Marathon,

Pegasus Parade

The Great Steamboat Race,

The chow wagon and the festiville,

Thurby - Thursday at Churchill Downs

The Oaks - Fridays fillies run for the lilies race,

The Kentucky Derby race 

Millionaires Row,

The Celebrity Parties,

and then,

THE Cleanup!

For two weeks, Louisville, Kentucky collectively

looses its mind.

In the very best possible way, of course.

It starts here at Thunder of Louisville 

with the air show

and what is called the worlds largest fireworks show

where you and a million of your closest friends watch 

the most incredible fireworks show put to music. 

Click HERE to see tons of Thunder pics.

Then everyday for 2 weeks, you can be entertained,

wined and dined 

with every kind of event possible.

All Leading up to that two minutes on Saturday evening.

The rest of the country may only see the hour before the two minutes and then the two minutes,

but Louisville, KY is ALL IN for two full weeks.

And probably 90% of all this activity is outside.

The weather forecasters in Louisville better deliver some beautiful weather on the First Saturday in May

or else you might be forecasting in Buffalo.

Derby forecasts begin showing up on the news

 about a month out.

No One wants to utter the "R" (rain) word.

We've had an unseasonably cold rainy spring,

even having snow about 2 weeks prior to the festival.

The trees are several weeks behind blooming this year.

But when Thunder arrived,

which marks the beginning of the festival,

the weather was beautiful!

In fact for nearly two weeks the weather was beautiful.

Thurby, which is Thursday before Derby speak,

and is considered Louisville day at the Downs,

was beautiful.

Fridays Oaks race was beautiful, even though the threat of rain was there all day, it held off.

The forecast for Derby Day was intermittent showers

in the morning with it clearing up between 3-3:30 for a race that was supposed to go off around 6:45 p.m.

There were showers off and on in the morning,

but nothing crazy.

Then it began to rain with some intensity around noon.

Around 2 p.m. it became a toad-strangler,

By 3 it was absolutely pouring,

by 5 p.m. there were flash flood warnings in Louisville,

and by the time the race went off, 

It was a crazy, sloppy, muddy track.

The horses in the Kentucky Derby have to win their way in.

Meaning these three year olds have to have won a particular amount of races to be eligible to run in the Derby.

Click HERE to read how it works.

They haven't run many races and some have never run on a wet track or in the rain.

By race time 2018, a wet track wasn't even in the equation.

This was the wettest track in Derby history!

It wasn't just wet, it was a

 completely new dimension in wet tracks.

One of the most interesting things about running in the slop

is with the jockeys.

They mount their horses in the paddock wearing about 6 pairs of goggles on top of each other.

Then as the race progresses and one pair of goggles gets covered in mud, they flip those down and expose a clean pair.

And then another and another.

The trick is to have as clean a pair as possible at the end,

because that's where things get really interesting.

There's the speed, 

the bouncing, 

the jerking, 

the whipping, 

and some shoving,

and then there's the mud.

If you can't see that little sliver of a hole to guide your horse into, all the planning that's gone into this moment

 may be for naught.

On Saturday 20 owners could have scratched their horse at any time as the conditions deteriorated.

In 144 years conditions had never been so bad for 

a Kentucky Derby and one thing for sure was,

this race was going to be run in that mess.

It would not be re-scheduled.

These 20 horses were bred and born

 with this moment in mind.

Their owners, trainers, jockeys, groomsmen, stable boys, hot walkers, farriers, vets and many others

 have lived and breathed this race

with this horse for 3 years.

Scratching wasn't an option!

So,

After all the planning of thousands of people,

all the hoopla leading up to the race,

the clothes,

the hats,

the parties,

and you'll notice I'm not even mentioning the mint juleps or the wagering,

The race is still on and they have to still run,

in the worst possible conditions.

Life is just like that.

We work,

We plan,

We try,

and then things go south

and we have to get through the worst possible conditions.

Why?

Because at the end of it all,

There is still a horse standing in the winners circle

with fist pumping jockeys, trainers and owners,

wearing that beautiful garland of roses.

And this year the favorite

and the winner

is

JUSTIFY!

Justify beat everything!

Including the worst weather ever!

I love that a horse named Justify

showed why it was the favorite and how to win

even when conditions were the worst possible.

I learned that sometimes you just have to put your head down, and push through the race,

regardless!

No matter what!

To win the roses,

YOU HAVE TO RUN THE RACE!

If you want to get in on the fun

for Derby 2019,

Click HERE.

If you want to go to the Derby, you're gonna need a hat.

My friend, hat artist Polly Singer, can hook you up.

Click HERE to check out her art.

(This is, after all, an art blog)

It's coming!

It's coming!

The Painter Nation Members Club is coming!

Click HERE to Learn all About the Members Club.

If you want to learn how to paint

on a budget,

the Painter Nation Members Club

 is screaming your name.

Unplugged - Family Fun Night

Family Fun Night

at the Carroll County Middle School

Unplugged!

That was the goal.

For families to have fun without being plugged in to a phone!

Practically unheard of in todays world.

But we did it.

They made edible art.

They painted rocks.

They made crafts.

They had a concert.

And we painted.

       I was asked to teach 3 classes for about an hour each,

with 12 per class, where everyone could complete a painting.

No short order.

I ended up teaching 5 classes with 48 people participating 

in 4 hours.

Whew!

That was some kinda crazy (but fun) night.

We painted something easy so we could get it done,

but also something that had lots of color and a challenge to it.

Here's a short video of the night.

Excuse one segment of the video, where the videographer (me) looks like she totally lost her mind.

Who NEEDS a phone for fun!

If you would like to help a girl out by taking a 

VERY SHORT Survey

Click HERE.

The info on the survey will help me know what you would like to learn and see.

  
Mixing Color is a life long learning curve and to help, I've created 7 Tips for Mixing Color and
 you can click HERE to get it.  

Thanks a bunch and happy painting!!!

Fun In The Studio!

Let's Do Art

Sharon, you're crazy, you say.

Well this is, after all, an art blog,

so let's do some art.

This is from work I did over the weekend

painting flowers picked from my yard.

I love time lapse video, even if I'm the one doing the painting.

Yes, I totally wiped out that daffodil in the upper left hand corner.  But just like in every painting, I learned so much doing that, 
it's all good!

If you haven't taken my VERY SHORT survey,
but would like to help a girl out,
click HERE.
This VERY SHORT survey helps me understand what you would like to learn and see so I can help you better.
Thanks I really appreciate it.