Collective Creativity – Painting by Blunders

by Barbara Lehtiniemi

For 2025, I challenged myself to try something new—something that would take me out of my comfort zone, and might even be a little scary.

When the Glengarry Education program came out in early January, I perused the offerings.  Woodworking?  Hmm, a bit too scary (and with sharp tools!)  I decided on Creativity With Acrylic, a 5-session painting workshop in April.  Also a bit scary, but the workshop was led by Yvonne Callaway, so it was at least guaranteed to be fun.

I had no previous painting experience (not since elementary school, anyway) but was intrigued enough to try.  I never knew how to get started with painting.  Yvonne provided a concise list of materials to start with, including just eight colours of paint.

The Creativity With Acrylic sessions were a bit scary—most of the other participants seemed so experienced!  (I later found that there were several other newbies besides myself.  And the experienced painters were so generous with advice, materials, and praise!)  The sessions were also a lot of FUN!  And I was painting right from the first day.

I remember a valuable point Yvonne made:  There is no wrong way.

My inner painter unleashed, I continued painting after the sessions ended.  I began by experimenting with colour, blending each of the eight paints with each of the others in turn to see the array of colours they produced.  Eight colours (well, six colours plus black and white) produce an amazing variety of colours, tints, and shades.  (Those experiments later provided me with handy reference sheets for when I’m seeking a specific colour.)

I use up leftover paint on a series of canvases, canvasboards, and mixed media paper.  Much of the painting I’ve done so far stems from having to decide where I can use a particular colour on one of the in-progress paintings.  Failing that, I’ll start a new painting (hurray for dollar-store canvases!)  I also experiment with different materials for applying paint:  brushes, wine corks, waxed paper, stir sticks, sponges, pine needles, packing material—anything goes.

I paint nearly every day.  I have almost two dozen paintings in progress, and a couple that I think are finished.  I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, and it’s amazing how liberating that is!  

No wrong, no rules, no expectations, no fear, no possibility of failure—just fun playing with paints.

Grand to read about members experimenting with new-to-them media: we’ve had watercolour & acrylic. How about you? have you tried something new, maybe something frightening? Send words & images to cagac.ca@gmail.com