by Rae Serenity
What makes you feel whole? How do you cope with the everyday stressful influences Americans all too often cannot escape? For me its being artistic. Whenever I take on too much and begin to feel overwhelmed with the weight of the world, my best outlet is painting. There of course requires a certain level of commitment to a piece once it is begun, forcing me to work through the emotions I am dealing with momentarily, and delve in to the more in depth emotions I am struggling to escape. The best part about using art as an outlet is you really don't need much to get started. The following are some inexpensive ideas on how you too can become an artist over night.
Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That she, dear she, might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe:
—Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586)
The absolute number one thing you will need to start your journey is a bit of knowledge, and some paint of course. The Internet is a great place to begin some research on the art you are interested in, although finding the supplies you need is more of a hands on endeavor. There are many items that can be purchased at discount stores like Walmart or Target, such as the paint brushes, canvas's, and paints you will be needing. I also suggest investing in at least 2 high quality paint brushes which can be purchased at your local Art supply store. They will give you more bang for your buck, lasting longer and giving you better results. That should be your number one expense, the rest of the items you need to start painting can mostly be found around the house.
An excellent place to begin digging for artistic treasure is in your very own garage, or your neighbors if you dare. Find yourself some scrap wood for color mixing trays or if you see fit you could even use them as your canvas. Do you remember pulling out that old painting you picked up at a garage sale years back, still crammed somewhere in the corner? Find it. Believe it or not you can paint right over the original and create your own masterpiece for nothing more than the quarter you bought it for. Old rags dusting up the place? Wash them and you have your self a blotching rag. You can use it as a tool while painting to smear the medium around, or just to lighten the load on your paint brush. How about an old coffee can, or some small containers? These would come in handy for storing your supplies when not in use. Old house paint can be used as a medium as past Artists have done. As I fore mentioned there are no limitations on the treasures to be found in the garage.
We artists are indestructible; even in a prison, or in a concentration camp, I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)
Moving indoors to your home you may find a blank wall that needs some art on it, why not paint directly on the wall? The only catch here is that if you are not a homeowner when you do move you will have to paint right over your mural. An old poster or even a new piece of poster board can easily become a canvas and with the right frame not even the artsiest eye will notice. Find an old collared dress shirt, cut out the neckline so it fits comfortably wearing it backwards. With a flick of the scissors you have your very own painters smock. Do you have any old sponges, Q-tips or makeup applicators? These too will work great for dispersing your medium. Next look in the kitchen for masking tape to use as a marker while painting. You can use it to stop paint from going in the unwanted places of your canvas. Those small plastic cups you get every year around Easter for dying your eggs, work perfectly as a water cup for rinsing your brushes out. Newspaper, leaves, stones, and even toothpicks may come in handy as you explore the diversity of your paints as well as your imagination.
As you begin to look for supplies at home you will find that your level of creativity will sky rocket with each new find and your plethora of ideas will fuel the artist in you to rev up and go!!! Then all you need to do is let yourself experience the freedom of creating art. The boundaries are limitless for your creative process, all you need to do is apply your love of the arts, find your own piece of MaGyver and let yourself loose on the canvas. Yes, even you can become an artist over night. Rae Serenityhttp://www.myspace.com/rae_serenity