The Artist in Me

Last night, I went out with a group of ladies from work to Canvas & Cocktails.  It was so much fun!!  We went to their website, chose a painting we wanted to do and when we noticed that the night was a fundraiser for the March of Dimes, we signed up!

Here is the painting we chose, "Red Trees":

Tree, flowers... call 'em what you like.  I love decorating with red in my home, so I loved it!!

At C&C, you start with a blank canvas (all paints and supplies are provided), and the instructor stands at the front and walks you through the painting STEP-BY-STEP.  Really, it's dummy-proof.  A couple gals from work were very nervous about it, stating that they had zero artistic ability.  Well, the great thing about C&C is that you don't have to! Everyone's turns out completed different, and it's a blast to do!  The instructor will give you instructions, then crank up the music and let you paint.  Oh, and don't forget the "cocktails" part of the evening, the flowing wine helps some with their paintings immensely.

Now, I will warn you, if you're a Type A person (like me), or a little OCD (as I admittedly am), this is more a challenge for you because you want your painting to look exactly like the instructors.  And mine usually do.  Haha!!  I mean, when she said to start with yellow 3/4 of the way down the canvas, I wanted to pull my ruler out--until she said "Type A's: don't worry about a ruler or perfection, just eyeball it."  Oh man!  And when my neighbors were doing their own thing and painting something other than what was instructed, I came unglued.  Later on in the evening, the instructor was making her rounds and stopped at my table; one of my friends pointed out that I'm one of her Type A pupils, and she urged me to have a glass of wine, not just the water I was sipping on.  In unison, my co-workers exclaimed, "But she's pregnant!!!"  :)

So we all worked and painted and perfected and touched up and (they) refilled thier wine glasses, and here is the finished product (see the ones who didn't follow the rules?):

And here's a close-up on mine:

It has replaced a monochromatic picture of John's and now hangs proudly in our bedroom. 

I love the decorating tip to have one color repeated throughout every room in your home, and my color is RED.  Until this painting was created and hung up, we didn't have any red in our bedroom (it's beige and brown and blue).  And this is so much happier!!

I had previously painted "Whimsical Tree" at C&C (look it up, it's bright!) and it didn't go with our decor at all, so it's sitting at my desk at work.  My next painting will be a challenge for me, because I've chosen what I want to do, but I actually--believe it or not--want to alter the colors so that it fits the color scheme of the nursery.

So if you're reading this and you want to go to C&C with me, let's do it!!  I can't wait to go again!!