Back to the basics

This summer I took 'Painting Fundamentals' through UC Berkeley Extension. It was taught online for the first time in its nearly 30 year history thanks to Covid. I'm thinking about pursuing an MFA and this seemed like a good baby step towards that goal. The first couple of weeks were spent in, to me, tedious repetition of basics like explanations of the differences between oil and acrylic paint. But the beauty of it was realizing that yes, in fact, I do have a level of expertise about certain aspects of art making, even if that expertise hasn't been validated by the UC system (yet!). As the weeks went on, I began to realize that I have so much to learn at every level - as everyone does, no matter how long they have been painting. Being open to learning is life sustaining, and being open to presenting your crappy student painting of a lemon after years of abstract painting is thrilling - it's a new beginning! Don't we all seek that feeling? When we stop wanting that, we begin to die. So here's to crappy student paintings of lemons!

When life gives you lemons, make terrible paintings with them!