Find Your Medium

I really thought I disliked painting.

I wanted to make things look realistic, and I could never achieve that with acrylics. I practiced art all my life and took painting classes in college, but never learned to use oil paints. In 2013, a local artist offered a class and decided it was time to see what all the hype was about. 

It instantly clicked for me. I couldn’t believe I had waited until I was in my 30s to learn how to use this medium. (It’s not like I didn’t know about it. Acrylics weren’t widely used until the 60s, so pretty much every painting I’d ever looked made before that was in oil.) It dawned on me that I didn’t hate painting. I was just using the wrong medium for the results I desired. 

For all y’all out there who claim to be “bad” at art, you’re not. I bet if you think about it, you have your medium. It might not be a pencil or a paintbrush. Maybe it’s the way you furnish a room, or plate a dinner, or mow the lawn. 

Find your medium and hone your craft. Creativity is accessible to all of us.