Last night I decided that the painting in our dining room needed a makeover. It is a large gallery framed canvas that is in good condition. But it is so green. I needed to do something meditative and painting is a good outlet.
Here are some shots of the canvas before making any changes:
I am not a classically trained painter. I took a couple of art classes in college and they were more about scoring an easy A than learning anything. Most of what I produced in these classes was ugly pottery. Because my skills are very limited, mostly to cutting in lines when painting around trim as we have renovated our house, I was just going to paint over all of the ugly green and leave the rest of the canvas alone. And then my husband came home from work.
I was brushing paint onto the canvas when he suggested that I add some mountains, clouds, and make it look like the ocean is crashing onto the shore. I am not going to lie, I laughed at him. I had consumed a couple of glasses of wine so I said to him, “This is an abstract painting and I get what the paint gives me. The paint decides.”
I have painted a few other canvases that I have displayed around the house. They are simple paintings, but I had no idea how they were going to turn out before I started.
I have a couple in our guest room:
One in my office (pictured in the dining room):
One in the entry way:
One in the living room:
They are not the worst paintings ever. I think they are quite lovely and they make me smile. However, I am have no intent to start my own gallery.
I took my husband’s advice and painted over the entire canvas. I went with what felt comfortable and allowed the paint to lead the way. The result was actually quite lovely. In fact, it too makes me smile. Most importantly, there is no more green.
