Paint for the sake of Painting

Sometimes you fall in love and sometimes you fall out of love.
However its not a case of me falling out of love with painting and sketching, its more of a matter of forgetting what I am in love with.

My husband always teases me saying "I used to be positive, but now I'm not too sure".
I have always struggled with having faith in my own . Never really seeing myself as an 'artist'.
Even after selling two of my watercolour paintings, I still don't see myself as being called an artist.
I think the problem is that unless I have everyone I know telling me I am this fantastic artist that needs to be selling her work and that they would even buy my work, then I am not an artist.
Just someone who like to draw and paint and isn't that fantastically great.
I was watching re-runs of a TV show the other day, and the girl was telling her male friend that she gave up violin because she wasn't that good at it, and in her family, if you weren't the very best at something then you stop and move on.
The friend then replied, "Haven't you ever done something, just because you love doing it?"
It was this line in the show that struck a chord with me. Why do we as people always strive to be the absolute best there is or quit when we realise maybe we suck.

We are always trying to get approval from everyone else, when all it takes to be happy is to be happy with yourself.

Without getting too emotionally deep, I just want to say that I am happy when I draw and paint. I find it a great escape. No matter what's going on in my life, those few moments I am painting, are calming. Nothing matters in the world accept the colors on the page and I am at peace.

Hugs
Sonya

Spring is here at last

Welcome back!
It's spring at last. I hate winter, and spring here in Australia started off great with a 30 degree day! Unfortunetly it didn't last and now it's back down to 18.
However with the great day, I took full advantage of it and went into the garden as I mentioned in my previous post.
I made a watercolor painting in my new small journal of our lovely flowers growing around our bird bath.

The bird bath in the middle of our lawn is my most favourite feature of our backyard. I can gaze at it for hours. In summer time on those hot nights, we are lucky enough to see maybe 20 or 30 Australian cockatoos come down and eat from the seeds in our grass and drink the water.

My husband planted all these beautiful flowers called snapdragons from seed. He is quite the gardener and is often outside in his vegetable patch, or mowing the lawns, while I have my head down in paint and paper.

 

I was lucky enough to be visited by this bird called a magpie here in Australia while I was sketching. I tried really hard to be fast and sketch him in place. It was a truly lovely moment.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!