Practice Makes Better
Day 69, Grand Asia 2017
Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 – At Sea
I remember saying once to my mother that I had no artistic talent, that I wasn’t creative. She painted in oils and acrylics, made ceramics and excelled at just about every art or craft she tried. In fact, she went on to start a craft manufacturing company focused on quilling, a paper craft. People around the world followed her work. After seeing the reaction of quillers to her attendance at a quilling convention once, I told my sisters that our mom was a rock star in that universe.
In response to my whining about a lack of artistic talent, Mom would pointedly ask me if I had ever given painting a try for more than 30 minutes. Point made.
One thing this cruise had taught me is that even if you don’t have natural born talent, persistence delivers results. In the early days of the cruise, I wrote that I was disappointed in the watercolor class instruction, I felt thrown into the deep end without any direction. Jack, our instructor, said we would learn by doing.
Now that I have completed at least 30 small watercolors, I can say that I have learned a lot. Jack, who always has been most generous with supplies, has shown us how to use different techniques, from tube paints to watercolor pencils.
He has urged us to sketch every time we go ashore and helped us improve our sketching techniques, so we will have a good basis for our painting.
Many days several of us paint long past the end of the one-hour 9 a.m. class. At 11:30 the classroom may still be half full. Another group shows up at 1 p.m. for the afternoon.
As I wrote on Day 64, Fiji’s small Dravuni Island had no excursions and not much more than a beach and a dozen houses. Jack organized a group from the watercolor class to go ashore and paint. A dozen children soon surrounded us. Jack provided some of them with sketchpads and colored pencils, and left more supplies for the local school. He sketched many of the children.
When I was finished with my watercolor of one of the nearby houses, Jack took a picture of me with some of the children. I looked forward to getting a digital copy of the photograph, but never expected the gift of the wonderful watercolor he painted of the children and me.
I still have a long way to go, but I am having a great time making watercolor memories of my trip. I have painted many of them on note cards, so after I get home and scan them, I may just go ahead and mail them to friends.
And in January, I plan to sign up for a watercolor class at home. Mom would be proud.
Jo – yes, hidden talent!! What a fun “unexpected” treasure from your adventure cruise! You will cherish the days, with evidence to prove it! Enjoying your journey! Theresa
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What a lovely memory of your Mom’s encouragement. Who knows, you may be illustrating future blog entries with more art than photography. You are certainly off to a good start.
So this is a cruise that leaves you with more than a bunch of photos and a few extra pounds. This is not something you would have been able to accomplish on a 4-day cruise!
Jo, you can literally see your progression in your watercolors! The last one of the ship and the smaller boats is incredibly detailed! Way to go girl – and don’t forget, you are also a quilter which is an art form in itself!