Art in the Garden

I went to a Painting in the Garden party with my mum this evening. It's exactly what it sounds like - a group of people getting together to paint outside. It was lovely. Other than a few little wooden crates and a mini letter box that I painted white a few years back, I haven't done any painting since high school. I forgot how much fun it could be. The nice thing about painting for the hell of it is that you don't have to worry about technique or meeting project guidelines. You can just do whatever your heart desires. It also doesn't matter how good the end result is. Half the fun is just letting loose, experimenting and enjoying the process (read: get paint everywhere!). I was quite weary of going at first, but I am so glad that I did. I never thought it would be so much fun XD

Me, working on my painting.

The finished project:

I thought that we would just be learning different brush stroked with a paint brush, but in the end the only part we used a brush for was to paint the edges of the canvas. First we covered the canvas in a layer of material that would give it a rough, uneven texture. Then we dropped blobs of paint over the canvas and used putty knives to spread the paint and mix the colours together, repeated several times over with different combinations of colours. Next we added the stems and leaves, followed by the centers of the flowers (I used my fingers for that part). After that I used a metal sponge to add the flower petals and then I used my fingers to dab on glitter glue. It was only then that I picked up a brush to paint the canvas's edges. And voila! It might not be as good as Van Gogh or Monet, but I loved doing it. And it sparkles. XD

This week is the first one in a long, long time that is jam packed full of fun, none health related stuff. Today was painting, tomorrow my best friend comes over, and Friday I celebrate living in Canada for twenty years (plus it will be Canada Day and that means there will be fireworks). Add to that a trip to the bookstore yesterday and a walk (albeit a short one) in the neighborhood, and I am one busy girl. A happy girl. I am knackered. I have very little endurance and walking is both physically and mentally exhausting, but it feels great to be doing "normal" things again.

As for my leg itself, I have lots to update about. My goal for tomorrow is to catch up on some stuff I missed blogging about before the external fixator came off; this weekend I will focus on typing up an update about last weeks appointments with infectious disease and my orthopedic surgeon (hint - I get really fantastic news for the first time in a very long time).

Edit: Painting outside it interesting - a leaf just fell out of my hoodie. Also, ants like to walk over the canvas. Your first instinct is to shoo them away, but it's all good. They just add to the texture!