Saturday, I spent the afternoon creating art with my 7 year old daughter, Logan. She proudly drew a cute little hedgehog for one of her teachers. I suggested that she paint it. So, she smiled genuinely and went right to it. Well, it smeared and didn't come out like she wanted. She cried and fumed. I tried to talk to her about, "happy mistakes." I explained that lots of time when I make a mistake...I walk away, and come back later and realize that it wasn't a mistake after all. I learn a new technique or stretch my wings a little as an artist by not staying in my comfort zone. She listened and gave it about 10 minutes and stomped her foot and whined that it didn't work. I explained that she might have to give it a little bit more time than that. So a few hours later, she came back and said, "You know Mom...you were right. I like him now...he looks fuzzy". I smiled my "all knowing Mom smile"...and patted myself on the back for getting through that one.Sunday, at the studio I was working on the painting above. I was very happy with the way it was coming about. I left it for awhile to tend to some other things. Little did I notice that Logan was widely painting her watercolors a little too close to mine. Later, she came running up to me and exclaimed, "Mom...guess what...I made Happy Mistakes on your painting". I cringed and tried to hold it together. As I went to check out the damage...I found that various drops of water and paint had randomly hit my painting. There wasn't any on their faces luckily...just the background. I agreed that they were certainly somewhat Happy Mistakes and I'd try to work with them. The only thing was I had finished the painting. I decided to sleep on it overnight.
I came back this morning....took a deep breath and assessed the damage. The color droplets were not in the right colors and it didn't look right. And then it hit me...cover them with acrylic. So, I took my pinkie finger and pale blue acrylic and made random dots over her "happy mistakes". To my surprise...it was exactly what it needed...and it was a "Happy Mistake" after all.....whew...
So, these paintings are part of a new series that I'm working on. Everyone is always asking me for works geared more towards little boys. So, I hope they like them. One is one Ebay and the other on etsy.
Well...I'm back to work now. Still waiting on my new assistant from the Universe.....Love,
WyannePin It
