A Boat Without A Painting...

 Or at least it would have been if I hadn't painted behind it.  This was the first scenery I painted for the Actors Conservatory Theater back in 2006.  That is Ratty and; Mole "out rowing"! 

Last night at a wedding reception, someone asked me how I started painting.  After I answered her, I thought the story would make a good entry for my blog... so here it is.  

It all began about 5 years ago... One day, Courtney and I just happened to witness a rehearsal going on for a production of Oklahoma.  Courtney just HAD to stay and watch and watch and watch.  The actors were in full costume so it must have been a dress rehearsal and nobody seemed to care that we were there.  She LOVED it!  She looked up at me with her little freckled 9 year old face and said,  "Mom, can I be in a play sometime?"  

I found a children's theater in our area and it all began.  Her first role was Dori the dwarf in The Hobbit.  They needed parents to help out with props, so I painted a door for the set.  The director liked it. A few shows later, the theater needed a set artist.  I looked at the huge wall on the back of the stage and just felt like covering it with paint.  I had NEVER done anything so huge before, but I wanted to try. 

 This was the result and I started to paint for each show after that.  Wind in the Willows pictured here is the first production I did, but many more are on my theater scenery page.

Courtney has continued her theatrical endeavors and I've had paint on my walls ever since.