Parky Picasso

I did something completely abnormal for me the other night. I went to a Ladies Paint Night with a friend. Paint and I don't mix well, pun intended. Add in my dexterity problems from having Parkinson's disease and you know that any story involving me and paint is bound to be humorous. After all, my history with painting is awkward to say the least. 

When I was in elementary school, a group of us were invited to be part of a local PBS show where we would be painting a mural. It was a live show, which in today's world, would have been unheard of. About ten minutes into the show, I had to go pee and didn't know what to do or where to go. So I walked up to the presenter, tapped him on his elbow and whispered in his ear, and my whisper was promptly picked up by the microphone! You can just imagine the teasing I got at school the next day.

My next foray into painting was in high school. I was tired of being in the Marching Band and was looking for a different elective-type class to take. Home Economics had no interest for me whatsoever and Shop class was boys only. I didn't even consider Chorus after my disastrous sixth grade talent show performance. So I signed up for Art class. I lasted a week, before the teacher took me aside and strongly suggested I go back to Marching Band.

After that, the only painting I did involved paint rollers, gallons of paint, and lots of drop-cloths and interior or exterior walls of houses. I didn't even do the touch ups around the windows and doors. That part was always done by someone else.

So, when my friend Sandy invited me to go with her to a Ladies Paint Night at her church, I should have said no, but I shocked myself and said yes! I warned her that my painting might be the only abstract one in the group. She laughed. 

We walked into the hall, paid our $5 fee, grabbed a blank canvas, brushes of various sizes, containers for water and went and found a seat. The various colors of paint needed were already on the tables and foam plates to be used as our palettes. There were also clean up rags and t-shirts to keep our clothes paint-free.

This is what we would be painting this time:

The first thing we did was paint the entire canvas in the mottled background colors, including the sides. I used a 2-inch brush and had a very difficult time making the big strokes needed. Then we drew the circles for the faces and filled them in. We drew the outlines of the hats and chose our colors individually, so everyones was different. We were to use small, repetitive strokes for the beards, and that gave me lots of trouble (stupid Parkinson's) but I managed. 

Each part of the painting was divided into simple shapes; ovals for the eyes, noses and hands, rectangles for the sleeves and lantern, Hershey Kisses shapes for the feet. We worked on the top while the bottom dried and vice versa. 

The last thing we did was the highlights and outlines. The funny thing is the part I thought would give me the most problems, making thin lines, turned out to be the easiest. Two hours later, we were done. 

Can you find YumaBev?

We posed for a group photo and afterwards I asked the teacher if she'd consider doing a Parky Paint Night? It turns out she has her own Neurological disease, Multiple Sclerosis, but said she'd consider it.  

The one above the teacher painted during class.

And here's mine!

Parky Gnomes by YumaBev

Maybe this Parky CAN paint after all!!!!

I'm already looking forward to the next class. 


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