So fellow travelers, the painting from last week’s little art adventure has been perched on an easel nagging at me to reconsider it’s merits.

Those iconic Van Gogh swirls are harder to achieve than they look.

Vincent’s famous Starry Night 

The studio which hosted the fundraiser I attended offers an SOS event once a month. Save Our Stuff is a free session where participants of previous events can bring their paintings to rework them.  It’s scheduled during the last week of each month.

I’m not that patient.

So yesterday after work, I pulled out brushes and paints, then got to work.

Acrylics are easy to fix because even darker areas can be covered by a new layer. Still, reworking the swirly sky (which to me looks more like kindergarten roses than stellar Van Gogh astronomy) meant either completely repainting the sail or working meticulously around it.

I mentioned I am not that patient, yes? I’m also not that steady of hand. Yet I did manage to leave enough of the sail when repainting the sky. Then, using dinner as a distraction, I managed to wait for it all to dry enough to retouch edges and details before adding the ode to Van Gogh sun.

While this fix feels better to me, it still feels unfinished. Maybe Vinnie and I have some additional collaborating to work on. We’ll see where our little boat takes us.

Walk gently on the path my friends and may adventure find you ready.

So fellow travelers, just a little artwork from a fun “Painting with a Purpose” event celebrating Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday.

Raising funds for the PwP artist’s grant program seemed a fitting way to honor him. Artists struggle to make a decent livelihood, in fact, Van Gogh sold only a few paintings in his short lifetime. He died by his own hand never knowing he would become one of the most famous and recognized artists of the next century or that his unique style would inspire painters of early modern art or that his use of color and techniques would influence artists for decades to come.

The currently trendy painting studio franchises may be better known for merriment than masterpieces yet there is a good measure of merit in encouraging people to have fun with art. Everyone at the event I attended left smiling and laughing with their own unique interpretation of a sailboat navigating the waters under a Van Gogh inspired sky. I called mine “Sailing with Vinnie.”  Look closely you might see him soaring free.

Walk gently on the path my friends and may adventure find you ready.