Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect

"You practice?" he asked in a surprised voice. "Of course I practice!" I answered, equally surprised at his question. I was being filmed in my studio for an upcoming video about five local artists, and my role in this film was that of "daily painter". I do try to participate in daily painting challenges twice a year, but I also paint bigger, more involved paintings, and I teach, work on marketing, study, and so on. There really is a lot more to being an artist than just painting, as almost every artist well knows! 


11" x 14"
Painted with acrylic heavy-body paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper
Ready to frame

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My Bible reading today was in the New Testament book of Luke. The first thing that really struck me was familiar. It was "the Lord's Prayer", but in a less common phrasing than we usually hear. I have spent some time really considering this prayer, and what each phrase would sound like in my world today. I have tried to pray using this framework, and have found that it helps me pray for things that I might otherwise forget. For example, I pray that my Heavenly Father's name will be honored, not profaned. What a surprise (not really!) that Jesus' teaching gives me a beautiful way to practice prayer. 

Luke 11: 1-5 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
‘Give us each day our daily bread.
‘And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Since I have classes coming up in September, I am already working on my compositions, my color theory, paint characteristics, and many other things. I am painting things that are not necessarily beautiful in order to practice. I also intend to participate in a daily painting challenge in September, so I will be practicing my painting every day before I teach. 

This painting is one that I worked on in a practice session, then reworked over and over again until I found it pleasing. I was practicing techniques, composition, and color theory. I find that practice and study helps me remember to try things that I might otherwise forget. It is so much fun that teaching gives me a renewed reason to practice painting!