my new obsession

on saturday, the bf and i joined a few of his friends at a great little place called bottle and bottega.  i had actually bought my mom a gift certificate to use here the next time she and my dad make a trip to chicago, so i was very excited to try it out.  the concept of bottle and bottega is to provide a fun, non-threatening atmosphere for people to try out their painting skills.  you can register for a public event (which is what we did), but they also offer private parties.  it's byob, so you bring your bottle and they provide the space, paint, canvasses, etc. as well as an instructor to walk you through the process of recreating whatever work of art has been chosen for that day.  painters of all levels are welcome and it's great for beginners.

so we showed up with our bottles, donned our aprons and settled in for an evening of painting and drinking.  i admit, i was a little nervous at first.  i have never considered myself artistic in the least, so the idea of me recreating a painting done by a real artist seemed on par with hell freezing over.  but, i was willing to give it a shot and figured between the bf and i, we would at least have two lovely paintings resembling what we would see on the walls of the local elementary school.

for three hours, we filled our glasses and painted along with our instructor's direction while we chatted and listened to fun music.  here is how my painting progressed:

the sketch.....

painting the background....

there were a lot more steps between step 2 and this, but here is my finished painting....

i have to admit, i was very pleasantly surprised with how my painting turned out.  having never picked up a paintbrush before - except for maybe paint by number projects when i was a kid - i didn't really expect much so i was pleased with my results.  it was really fun and i left b&b wanting to paint more. 

yesterday i was at michael's looking for a few things and happened to wander down the paint aisle.  you know where this is going.  i came home with a table top easel, a beginner set of acrylics and brushes, 2 canvasses and a painter's pallet.  i'm dying to set up and try my hand at another painting.  i have a ton to learn but i think i may have found a hobby that i'm really going to enjoy, regardless of whether my skill level every improves.  so in keeping with my theme for 2012, i am going to enjoy painting and am looking forward to taking my mom to b&b this spring/summer!