My Social Life Has Picked Up...
Well, my social life isn't wild and crazy, but it is showing a few signs of life.
My middle son, Alan, (Samantha's father) has moved in with his new girlfriend. They have only been dating about four or five months, but when you are in your 50's and you are on to a good thing, just do it. Alan has been married three times, but Olga is the first woman he's lived with who is intelligent, has a great job and is a star employee, and is financially solvent. As such, our family -- having suffered through Lisa, Patty, and Diane -- are doing all we can to encourage this relationship. So when Olga invited me to a wine and painting party in Vineland, New Jersey, I accepted.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a wine and painting party, this one cost $35.00 a piece, and they provided a canvas, acrylic paint, brushes, wine, nibblies, and an instructor who told us step-by-step how to paint the picture. Everybody paints the same picture; ours was of a pair of thong sandals on the beach.
This event was held in a small winery, so we had a wide choice of wines to choose from. I chose the dry white, which wasn't very dry. That was fine with me.
First we painted the three parts of the background: first the sky, then the sea, and last the sand. Next we sat around for about fifteen minutes and had cheese and crackers and worked on some more wine while the acrylic paint dried. Then we painted the posts, the beachy grass, and the thong sandals right over the background.
Was I pleased with my picture? No. Olga says she has all of hers -- she's done about 35 over the years -- hanging in her stairwell. I don't think that's happening with my picture. I may find a place for it in my laundry room. Or not.
Would I do it again? Sure. It's obviously important to Olga, so it's important to me. And I learned a few things. Next time I'll make sure I take a close look at the model paintings before I put brush to canvas so that I know better what I'm aiming for. This session took place in a small winery's small showroom, and to get close to one of the two already finished paintings, I would have had to go out the door behind me, walk half way around the building in the dark, and go in a second door. Next time I will. I have a flashlight app on my cell phone; that's what it's for. I also figured out, too late, that I could use my brush as a ruler to figure out how to space/size my elements. The canvas was about two paintbrushes wide. If I'd figured that out sooner, my posts would be nearer the same size, and they'd be more evenly spaced across the canvas.
Today I went to Starbucks for a frappachino and to read my book. I was having difficulty getting into it: everything I could be doing instead of reading was distracting me. I've always loved reading or studying in public places. Growing up as the oldest of four children, I learned early to ignore tumult around me.
Sure enough, once I settled down and gave the book a chance, I got interested.
Then something unusual happened. Two different people, a twenty-ish woman in a short dress and a man in his thirties with a ginger beard, both interrupted me to tell me how much they loved my book. That's pretty damn special; it's never happened to me before.
Thanks, spacefem, for recommending TATDoaPTI. FanSee
My middle son, Alan, (Samantha's father) has moved in with his new girlfriend. They have only been dating about four or five months, but when you are in your 50's and you are on to a good thing, just do it. Alan has been married three times, but Olga is the first woman he's lived with who is intelligent, has a great job and is a star employee, and is financially solvent. As such, our family -- having suffered through Lisa, Patty, and Diane -- are doing all we can to encourage this relationship. So when Olga invited me to a wine and painting party in Vineland, New Jersey, I accepted.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of a wine and painting party, this one cost $35.00 a piece, and they provided a canvas, acrylic paint, brushes, wine, nibblies, and an instructor who told us step-by-step how to paint the picture. Everybody paints the same picture; ours was of a pair of thong sandals on the beach.
This event was held in a small winery, so we had a wide choice of wines to choose from. I chose the dry white, which wasn't very dry. That was fine with me.
First we painted the three parts of the background: first the sky, then the sea, and last the sand. Next we sat around for about fifteen minutes and had cheese and crackers and worked on some more wine while the acrylic paint dried. Then we painted the posts, the beachy grass, and the thong sandals right over the background.
Was I pleased with my picture? No. Olga says she has all of hers -- she's done about 35 over the years -- hanging in her stairwell. I don't think that's happening with my picture. I may find a place for it in my laundry room. Or not.
Would I do it again? Sure. It's obviously important to Olga, so it's important to me. And I learned a few things. Next time I'll make sure I take a close look at the model paintings before I put brush to canvas so that I know better what I'm aiming for. This session took place in a small winery's small showroom, and to get close to one of the two already finished paintings, I would have had to go out the door behind me, walk half way around the building in the dark, and go in a second door. Next time I will. I have a flashlight app on my cell phone; that's what it's for. I also figured out, too late, that I could use my brush as a ruler to figure out how to space/size my elements. The canvas was about two paintbrushes wide. If I'd figured that out sooner, my posts would be nearer the same size, and they'd be more evenly spaced across the canvas.
Today I went to Starbucks for a frappachino and to read my book. I was having difficulty getting into it: everything I could be doing instead of reading was distracting me. I've always loved reading or studying in public places. Growing up as the oldest of four children, I learned early to ignore tumult around me.
Sure enough, once I settled down and gave the book a chance, I got interested.
Then something unusual happened. Two different people, a twenty-ish woman in a short dress and a man in his thirties with a ginger beard, both interrupted me to tell me how much they loved my book. That's pretty damn special; it's never happened to me before.
Thanks, spacefem, for recommending TATDoaPTI. FanSee