Just to give you fair warning, this post has nothing to do with food or books. Besides eating delicious food and adventuring various lives through reading, one of my more recent hobbies is painting. The story behind how I came to love painting is similar in many ways to how I came to love reading. For me, being forced to do something has never inspired much affection for whatever the subject matter is. Whether it was reading for school work, or doing art for school work, it was hard for me to find pleasure in either activity. For my story on how I became an avid reader, click here. As far as painting goes, I had all sorts of 'training' in school, including an AP Art class. Looking back, I regret that I didn't take advantage of the incredibly helpful, passionate (and slightly eccentric) teacher I had. Instead, I was stubborn and generally disliked being told what to do. Hooray for teenage attitudes!
Anyway, about 2 years ago, my best friend invited me to go to a 'paint night' event. I remember being extremely anxious about having to paint . . . I've never been comfortable putting my lack of skills on display. Turns out, despite being overly anxious at the beginning of the night, I slowly started to relax. I realized that, even if my painting wasn't perfect, I was actually enjoying stepping away from the world and creating a new one. Soon after this, I splurged on a bunch of acrylic painting supplies (not being brave enough to tread the oil paints yet).
Now? Though my painting skills need a lot of honing, painting has become one of the few things that calms my anxiety. One of the reasons I love painting, other than its relaxing effects, is being able to create something that reminds people of places that are important to them. I recently had someone encourage me to post my paintings on here, despite this being a book blog. So, without further ado, here are some of the projects I have been working on. (I apologize for the watermarks, but, unfortunately, it's necessary).
Spring (from the infamous Paint Night)
My first batch of paintings for people. Moab, Snowy Peaks, Fall Birch, Winter Trees, Abstract Peaks, Waves
Uniting love for Mountains, Rivers, and Red Rock
Summer Birch
Northern Lights
This is a hat rack I made for my husband. I wanted to remind him of four of his favorite places back home: Provo Canyon, Moab, Silver Lake, Superior.
Fall Birch
Snowbird Sunrise, done on a cut of wood
Mount Superior Sunrise
Mount Superior Blue Bird (can you tell Little Cottonwood Canyon is one of my favorites?)
A little piece for a youthful soul
Not at Treasure is Silver and Gold, Mate
Waterton Lakes National Park
Blue Tetons
Parabatai Rune
Mount Timpanogos
JR
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