I know, I know. Lots of people are not huge fans of St Valentine's Day. I suppose there was a point where I was not a huge fan, either. "Why do you need a WHOLE DAY to remind people to do something they should just do EVERYDAY?" is what I hear, and probably what I said, too.
Lately, tho, it has really hit me - life sometimes gets busy. I sometimes...no, always...am busy. I like being busy. Kind of. Not always. But I am a "doer". I do stuff. And then, when I am done with that, I do more stuff. Sometimes I have like five or more stuff things going on at once that I am "doing", and I bounce back and forth between them. And sometimes I get so busy with all that stuff that sometimes I do need the reminder to stop and say, "I love you."
My kiddos are getting older, too. When they were little, it was super easy to scoop them up, tickle their little bellies, kiss their chubby little cheeks and snuggle them all up, and tel them how much I love them. Now they are older. And much bigger. No way I could scoop up at least two of them without hurting myself. Or them. Or both of us. And sometimes they have that teenage boy smell....which...I mean...you know? But no matter their size (or smell), how much they roll their eyes or give me attitude, my boys still need to hear that I love them. They still need hugs. Probably still need mom to smooch those beautiful cheeks of theirs. And, yeah, it probably makes me a horrible mama to say this, but sometimes I need that reminder. Even if it is me doing the reminding. (And if you need a reminder, too, then here you go: go hug your kiddo and tell 'em you love them...even if at this moment they are driving you nuts and you can't stand 'em! ...I mean, what? That never happens, right?)
I also know some people are not super into sharing all that feeling stuff. Even as an artist, a person who is supposed to be all connected and in-touch with the feels and emotions, it's easy to stuff them away. Or get into that, "yeah, I don't have to tell them that, they know how I feel," or "I'll do that later." (Did I mention how much of a 'later' person I am discovering I have become??? OH MY!) For those people not all that comfortable with sharing their feelings, especially those feelings of love and whatnot, I think a day that lets them let go and let those words and feels come out is AWESOME!
Ok, so basically, Valentine's Day may not be for everyone, but it is a great day for some people. I may be a part of that "some people", so maybe it is for me. And maybe it is cool, even if you think it is ridiculous that we "some people" need the reminder or the excuse to say all that "I love you" stuff, maybe you can celebrate, too.
No matter what your reasons for celebrating this day, I thought it would be fun to celebrate with some "Love Art". Something that you love, that your kiddos love, that symbolizes love to you....
Ah, love! I love love. And I love art. So, this wasn't too tough for me. I also love kitties. So, I picked this picture to paint. But, of course, you don't have to paint if you do not love painting. You could use any medium you feel comfortable with. For this painting, I used:
- 14" Round Canvas
- Acrylic Paints (Mars Black, Neutral Gray, Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, Quinacridone Red, Persian Red)
- Assorted Brushes
- Paper Towels
- Water
- Cup for water
- White Watercolor Pencil (to outline my sketch/subject)
I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day. And I hope you do something creative to celebrate love and art. You can check out my video below. As always, if there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know. I would love to help however I can. Happy arting, all!