Becoming Artsy- Learning How to Be Sane

A little less than a year ago, I was getting close to the end of my rope when I learned I could paint. Motherhood wasn't anything that I expected, and I was feeling beyond overwhelmed. At the end of each day, I would fall into bed, an emotional mess, unable to sleep well. Because I couldn't sleep, I would pull out my phone and look at all kinds of beautiful things that people were making and posting on Pinterest. For a while, I began to feel awful about my situation, and maybe even a little worse because I was comparing my cluttered, messy home to the gorgeous photos all over my pin boards.

One day, though, I talked to my husband, and I told him I really wanted to try to do some of the things I saw on Pinterest.  A friend gave us some pallets that he was going to burn, and my husband and I got busy pulling them apart, putting them back together, and generally making our garage unusable for our vehicles! I got a small paint set from a craft store for less than $20, and I began experimenting. I enjoyed it so much, and my first painting turned out much better than I expected. Since our county fair was coming up soon, I decided to enter my painting, and guess what? I got the first place blue ribbon! How in the world can someone live on this Earth for 30 years and not know about their own ability to paint!?!

This is my very first painting that I did just weeks before I turned 30! What talents do you have hidden? 

After that blue ribbon, I got really excited about painting. Painting on old, beaten up pallets was an awesome stress reliever for me.Old pallets allowed me to not be concerned about messing up, and it seemed that they are pretty easy to make look nice! It seemed the more I swiped the paint across the "canvas," the more my stress seemed to melt away. Initially, I used Pinterest as a template for each item, but then, my creativity began to bloom, and original ideas would come to me. I think painting helped keep me sane through the summer and the transition of my daughter going off to Kindergarten. On days when I was particularly stressed, some of the most beautiful art came out of my paint brush.

As friends and family members heard of my "art" (aka sanity), people began offering money for these pieces! I couldn't believe people would pay me a fair price for my stress relievers! I began selling a few items, and some suggested I set up at a couple local craft shows, and I had great success. I had painted, and my husband had helped me get everything ready. We had truly hundreds of pieces including signs, Christmas decor, and even some furniture!

At the craft show, many ladies kept asking me, "How do you have time for all of this when you have three kids?" The answer is simple: It keeps me sane. If I keep all of these beautiful ideas locked up, I am miserable. If I have an outlet for creativity, my husband and kids can tolerate living with me much better!

My mom says I am technically a professional artist because I have sold my art. I don't feel like a professional artist because I do it only because I love it so much. Honestly, I feel like painting is a little gift that God has given me to allow me to take time to think about how beautiful His world is and to imagine how much he loves His creation. As I dip my paint brush and smear colors together, I can imagine His delight as He created the beauty in the flowers of the field. I think about all the complexity of color and contrast of light and dark, and somehow, the rest of my worries are gone for a little while.

Below is my most recent art piece in process. This is a Bee Hive into which a friend is getting ready to introduce a new swarm of bees. The box was already built and ready for me to paint! She asked for it to be "girly," and I have been happy to oblige!

Isn't this a great place for bees to live?

What creative outlet keeps you sane? Leave your comments below.