Creative Combustion Part 1 & 2

Part 1
One of the best parts of my day this week, was spending the afternoon with two 6 year old friends. This was the first time they had visited the new annex space. Aaron Yarnell’s large canvas, a work in process was in the corner. They immediate went over to it...oh yes, it’s a big wave. They were very impressed. I said we would paint on some small canvases. That sound good but when I pulled out the Lime green paint smocks, that was the topper. Paint with color and wear some too! What joy! In the hour and a half the girls worked on the the canvases, found packing materials that would make perfect castles, if painted and drawing on paper. Now, they asked for little help with this final project but, they had decided on masks. I was just need to help get the project started and cut out the eyes. Everything else they would do. I must say since they first started coming a year ago Fall,  their cutting skills have vastly improved. I guess that’s just the teacher talking.
I think what hit me afterwards was how the space with art on the wall and paintings in the works all around seemed to just generate their own art.
I know this, yet forget how having a dedicated space for making is really important. One chance experience with a painting can open so many new possibilities.



Part 2 - Paint Night
I had promised to write a blog post after the Storming the Museum Paint Night on Saturday, March 2nd. Lana Hetchman Ayers mentioned at the Writer’s MeetUp March 6, that writing together with a group of writer’s gives encouragement just by doing  the work together. I think this is true of paint night’s too! I have had so many people say in hushed tone, “I haven’t ever painted before!” When I assure them that there are many other people in the room that are beginners too, I can see their shoulders relax and they look around...and before long they are painting, talking and laughing with the people around them. 
Personally, I am so amazed how different everyone’s approaches are! In two hours, a room full of people have very different finished pieces!!!
Is this creative combustion? I think so.
As an only child that drove my 40+ mother crazy with my childish energy, I enjoy alone time. For me, it was time I could do whatever I like (even if later, I found myself in deep trouble with my mother). A writer friend told me how reading poems told her that others understood what she was going through. For me, it was paintings that said that. They said to me: you are not alone. This is not forever, there is more to life...take a look.
So, the idea of needing the encouragement to create from a room full of people is foreign. But watching the room buzz, it clearly isn’t true for other people. One friend came in depressed with troubles overwhelming her and left laughing. That was worth it!
One creative act can create a creative reactive explosion that makes new paintings and creative endeavors happen!
It is one thing I can say I believe.
Next Paint Night, June 7, 2019 at Blue Heron Cheese Factory, $45, Fundraiser for Art Accelerated Art Education Program