Day 69, 100 Happy Days: Transformative Power of Art

"Wash Away The Pain"Acrylic on Canvas ©Tabetha Hastings

Painting is amazing. It can help us get in touch with who we are, and what we need to change in our life. It can bring out our insecurities, or it can soothe us. (I think all of this can be said of viewing art as well as creating it.)

People who come to my classes are often very brave. In my Artist Way classes we talk about fear and insecurities that we have surrounding creating art.
It's very common in our culture.

We are all born artists; it's true. But then we grow up, and somehow life beats it out of us. Puberty beats it out of us. Well-meaning - or not so well meaning - teachers, family members, and friends beat it out of us.

So yes, coming to a painting class like mine can be a brave act.
Some people handle it by having the attitude of I'm just there to have a good time and it doesn't matter what my painting looks like. Others either don't have the fear, or are willing to explore anyway. And then there are others who are just so fearful and beaten-down that they criticize their work and themselves the entire time that they're painting. That's hard to watch, and I try my best to get them through to the other side feeling better. Sometimes my job is 90% cheer leader.

So to have one of those people leave my studio either happy with the painting that they created, or happy with the experience, is a wonderful thing. It is why I do what I do. It's beautiful to witness those breakthroughs.