Anyone Can Paint

As you probably know, Paint Nite is one of my favorite things. But they are pricey. I've taken June once and I plan to take Robyn, but it is certainly not something we all do as a family. June thought it would be cool to bring it to her Young Women's group, so with plenty of planning, they put together a Paint Nite.

First, it helps to have a resident artist and we have Camie. She is amazing. She said she was really nervous to do this paint instruction, but she was amazing. Here is her original piece for the girls to paint.

I wanted to come and see the girls paint, but it turns out that one of the leader's couldn't come, so they asked me to substitute. So I came and took lots of pictures. And it was fun because I have been to many paint nites so I was able to tell the girls what to expect and we did our own Paint Nite oath. I told the girls about painting a mustache on anyone who said negative things about their painting. Take a guess now about how many you think got one?

Let's get started. We used smaller flat canvases to save on cost, but it was the perfect size for this group. First some yellow, then some blue.

Everyone worked on the sky first. We got blues and some black and then it was time to splatter on some stars. Sprinkling and splattering is always fun.

By this time, we definitely had some comments happening. Honestly, nothing was too bad, but it is just normal for people to look at their piece and think it is not quite right. I didn't think girls would hold still long enough for a mustache to be painted on them, so I improvised. I think it worked well.

Soon stars were in place and it was time for the land. Everyone was doing a great job. Camie was an excellent teacher, going slow enough so people could keep up but fast enough that we weren't there all night.

What I love most (besides painting...and I didn't actually participate this time) is how different each piece is. People are so creative and even if they are trying to do the same thing, it will still be slightly different. As the girls filled in trees, I loved to see all the differences. Here is Maycee using a bobbypin to keep her brush flat. Brilliant.

Some people didn't stick to pine trees. Check out the palm beach scene Hannah did.

Everyone had unique stars and trees. I loved it.

And yes...we needed a couple more mustaches.

I'm so impressed with these girls. What an amazing job!

Let's see how my cuties did. Look closely at Robyn's. (She has little people in front of her moon/sun)

June is a bit of a perfectionist, so it wasn't at all surprising that she was one of the last ones finished. She and Abby.

Abby was trying to water color with acrylic paint. She would thin all her colors down with water, since that is what she is used to. I love that in the end she did something completely different. Check out her cute giraffe.

See. Anyone can paint. And it doesn't have to look like your neighbor's to be interesting or good. Don't make me use the mustache on you...