Discovering Art in Midlife

I can vividly remember the first time I screwed up during an art session in first grade.

The teacher was showing us how to paste circles of color in order — just like a stop light. Red on top, yellow in the middle, green on the bottom.

I had red on top. Green in the middle. Yellow on the bottom.

The teacher was not pleased. She chastised me in front of the class. I decided I was not good at this art stuff. That was the message I allowed to float around in my head for decades.

Then my daughter introduced me to painting. I slapped colors on a canvas in a flowing, wavy, unpredictable pattern.

It was pretty. I kinda liked it.

I posted it on Facebook and someone offered me $100 for it.

Sold.

The money went to a deaf school in Haiti.

My friend, Joanne Miller, author of “Be Your Finest Art”, inspired me to go deeper into this creative stuff. Joanne discovered art in midlife — much like the path I’m going down now. She teaches art classes once a week to women in midlife and beyond — encouraging them to tap into their creativity and to play with art like a kid again.

I was dabbling in acrylics here and there — and then one day, I started painting with alcohol inks. I fell in…