Life has a way of getting in the way of doing things that feed the soul. Most of us rarely take the time to just sit and ponder about where our life is heading and what we want from our time left on the planet. When young, this is never an issue because we count on having plenty of time to do what we want with our lives. Years pass, and before you know it, your life has happened.

I have taught adult students for more than 30 years and have found that many people opt to take classes that are creative, such as fine arts, interior design, and writing. I believe that this is their way of reconnecting with the artist within.

Art has often been portrayed as frivolous, so it’s no wonder that creative pursuits were relegated to “when I retire…” I’m no different, although I have a while to go before considering retirement. However I did decide to take art classes offered through the University of Alberta’s visual arts program. I registered for Watercolour Level 1 with Jim Davies, a well known Canadian landscape artist. The still life shown above was one of our assignments. It was painted in our kitchen and features antique books and plate, an old Blue Ribbon tin, a teacup and strawberry-shaped sugar bowl..

Watercolor is a very challenging material because a picture is so easily ruined – it’s not like acrylics or oil paints where you can simply wait for the paint to dry and paint over it. I believe that I have a love-hate relationship with this medium, yet it continues to intrigue me.

This second image was created in the Level 2 class – taught by watercolorist extraordinaire, Jerry Heine. It was painted from a photograph I took of vineyards in the Loire Valley in France. My husband and I were staying in a chateau not far away.

I have a lot to learn but I find that the hardest thing to do is to carve time out of a busy schedule to actually do it!

So little time, so many things to do. What have you always wanted to find the time to do?