52 Date Nights- Week 3 - Art Night

I am a bit of a perfectionist. Which is odd because I am also a pack rat and messy. But when it comes to certain things I want it to be just right. I sometimes struggle with this because I know it is okay to not be perfect or to have the perfect house.

I have attended a couple of art nights similar to cork and easel classes (but without the cork). I have done one with a bunch of other women and one as a couple (where we each have our own canvas and do one half of the picture). And I would get a little obsessed with making my canvas look just like the instructor's.

(Jadae and I with our finished product at couple's paint class. Lots of fun!)

When I take pictures of my children I try to angle the camera just right, so that the mess in the background is not there. Even today I did this when I was taking pictures of Smile opening his birthday presents and eating cake.

I know that I am not perfect, that no one here on earth is. This is something that I need to work on. To be vulnerable with. To show my mistakes and messes, not just material ones, but also ones that are internal. To ask for help, to let others know that I have struggles, that my kids also have their own issues. That as much as I wished so, I do not have it all put together.

When I was preparing the 52 date night ideas I came across an art night that I loved. As a bonus I realized that it would help me overcome some of my perfectionist tendencies. I saw the idea on Pinterest. Even though the example I looked at came from a classroom, I knew that Jadae and I could take it on. I think it was named something like, "Remixed Masterpiece"

With Jadae's help we chose an art piece and I made 3 copies of it. I then divided the piece up (1-4 across the top and A-C along the side) and cut it into pieces. We divided the pieces up so that we each had every other. The medium we used was oil pastels. I used those a lot in middle school; Jadae has not used them much. And we got to work.

We decided on a sunset island piece of art as inspiration for our upcoming cruise next month! We had fun and it was interesting to see how our pieces fit together at the end. I also did not allow my perfectionist side to take over!

Here is a copy of the original (on the left) and my copy of it (on the right)

Here is our finished art work!

52 Date Nights in 52 Weeks
Getting out of a rut- The post that explains why I started this journey

1. Week One- (movie) The Bucket List
2. Week Two- (game) Post Cards from North America