#7 Pick Up a Paint Brush

Sometimes I just want to paint — I’m no Picasso,  it’s true. And the desire to take it all out on a blank canvas doesn’t  mean I’m good at it either, but at times I need to get away and colors help.

We all start finger painting during our younger years. Yes, you know those often-unidentifiable pictures that our moms hang on the refrigerator and say “it’s the most beautiful picture I’ve has ever seen.” Regardless of their praise, for whatever reason there is usually some point when many of us write ourselves off as not so gifted in the creative department. But after all, isn’t beauty supposed to be in the eye of the beholder?

Bevo on the storage shed our senior year. (photo courtesy of Carah Coyne)

My senior year of high school my best friend and I decided we needed to display our longhorn pride (both having a burnt orange future ahead of us). We had both been accepted to UT, so before we packed up our car and headed to the capital city we got out the burnt orange paint and started going to town on the side of a storage shed. It wasn’t until  the end of the day, as we were covered in paint (we got a little carried away and decided to splatter painted the other side of the building) and admiring our longhorn, complete with the big, bold “hook ‘em,” that I realized how carefree I had been. The anxiety of moving to an unfamiliar city had melted away and all I cared about was how I could make Bevo look good with the Holley-flare.

Since that day, I have painted a lot here in Austin. Let’s see … there was the kitchen table I painted a pattern of hearts on my freshman year, the coffee table I designed and painted a washed out, shabby pink last year for my sister and then a whole wall in my apartment that holds quite an amount of combined work from me and all my roomies. Some nights after a long week, my roommates and I go to Walmart, buy a canvas (they are only about $5), rent a good movie and just start painting. It really is funny to see what everyone comes up with. So, we have created our own art gallery where paintings are not for sale and memories made are simply priceless.

One of my latest paintings hanging on the wall in my apartment.

You know what people? It’s time to conjure up your inner-creativity, grab a paintbrush and a friend and start painting. And when you’re done, stand back and admire your work (or have a good laugh at what you are capable of). You may never have known you had it in you.