If you ever renovate your home (or know a friend that is) here’s my suggestion…take your kids to paint the walls, doors, and basically everything. It’s the perfect silver lining to complete and utter renovation hell.
We descended upon to my friend’s home fully armed with extra big worn out t-shirts, a ton of paint and even more paintbrushes. We forgot paper towels (big forget as I had some serious concerns about the future color of the seats in my car from the drive home). Oh well, it was washable paint, at least I hoped.
Everyone felt like we were doing something wrong which of course made it all the better. The moment we walked through the front door we were forced to cover our ears. The hammering was loud, really loud. Looking up we could see straight through what used to be a living room. Everything was torn apart. Navigating ourselves upstairs wasn’t easy and I began to wonder if this was such a great idea after all.
All the walls upstairs (with the exception of a few marks) were white. We plopped down on the floor to get our necessary gear and tools ready: t-shirt on, paint poured into plates, paintbrushes ready. As fast as we had arrived into our living canvas, the painting began.
With only a few exceptions most of the paint managed to find its way to the walls. I watched as everyone carefully took their brushes in their hands and meticulously thought through each and every stroke. One little girl drew boxes filled with different colors. It reminded me of the way Chuck Close liked to paint. He would have approved of what he saw in this particular living canvas. I was certain of that.
As I blissfully watched them dive into this new little world they were creating their smiles turned to snickers. Before my eyes Chuck disappeared and Jackson Pollock entered. From all directions paint flew through the air. Snickers turned to squeals of bliss as everyone laughed hysterically. I was dodging green, red and pink paint. It was insane, but the look of shear joy in those little eyes made all my fears of never completely removing the paint from my face dissolve. The underlying feeling that we were doing something wrong was bordering electric.
Now if only we could find a way to feel that every day. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Ellen, I loved this post. xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteMy mother was horrified that I wanted to paint the stair banisters of my home various colors, with stripes and polka dots. And I didn't.
ReplyDeleteAn art teacher friend was all disbelief when I told her about plans to paint various types of creatively stenciled dinosaurs in our kitchen. "In a few years, you'll regret it." She was right - it's been over 15 years & I do regret... NOT painting them!!
Your posting inspires my spirit to bust out, not just in my newly carved out art space, but all over. Thanks, thanks & more thanks!