I am receiving daily writing prompts in my inbox courtesy of Lisa Sonora and her FIRE: 30 Day Journal Project. One of today’s prompts was, “If I wasn’t waiting for perfection, I would…”

I love to draw with colored pencils and markers, but I am always very critical of my work. I haven’t had formal training, not even real art classes when I was in elementary or high school. I didn’t have the privilege of having a talented art teacher like Robin Schmidt, who taught my children for eight years. The work they created was beautiful and imaginative. Robin inspired her students, and many of them went on to careers in art, and many of them just developed a love for art and creativity.

A couple of summers ago, I attended a one-night water color workshop at my local library as part of their Adult Summer Reading program. The summer program had an outer space theme, and we would be painting galaxies. The instructor walked us through the process, and we practiced the technique for a bit before beginning the actual project. We were able to look at actual space illustrations to use as “mentor texts.”

I was hesitant to begin and even more resistant to mixing colors, but I knew of no galaxy which was completely primary colored. I decided just to go for it and see how things turned out. I was pretty pleased with my finished product.

After that workshop, I intended to take a water color class, but never did. The school year started, and then Covid hit, and plans were put on hold. I bought myself some great water color markers and a book to inspire my drawing. I have a dollar store sketch book that doesn’t get used enough, but might just come out of hiding very soon.

Although I am not a Piccaso or a Monet, I am going to make a point to draw more and explore my artistic abilities. What do I have to lose?

What would you do if you weren’t waiting for perfection?

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge for the month of March. I will be posting every day this month. It is sponsored by twowritingteachers.org. #SOL21