When’s valentine’s day?
When’s valentine’s day?
When’s valentine’s day – this question This day, this festival of love, is a holiday that can be said to be cyclical. Every year on this day we do not have to be shy to talk about love. Many people are reluctant to say the word love. It is the name of something we desire. We want to experience it. Hardly can we live without love. However, the fear of love is widespread. We sense that it can be fleeting. That it can leave pain and suffering. That is why we avoid the word. We explain that talking about love is trivial and that it means nothing. The exception is Valentine’s Day. On this day we are open to honesty. We are not afraid to show our feelings to each other. We give each other gifts, we give each other pleasure. The gift can also be a painting.
Although for the professional artist, the pleasure of painting is not so obvious. Artists often say that it is a struggle, a creative ordeal, a trek into the unknown. That is to say, an activity associated with difficulties, overcoming penny obstacles. And yet it must contain some element of pleasure. Artists sometimes incur enormous personal and material costs in order to practise art. They would not do it just for the “creative ordeal”. But this digression does not fit with Valentine’s Day. This day is dominated by love for people, loved ones, and life in general.
Gifting as an enjoyable painting experience
The gift mustn’t be a bar of chocolate, it can also be a painting. Is it possible to give someone such an experience? The gift seems to be the wrong word. After all, anyone can buy paper or canvas, brushes and paints and then paint. No gift is necessary here. So much for the theory. In practice, so-called average people, not artists, think that they “can’t draw or paint anything”. So they don’t dare to do it. Creating a situation in which they gain courage is this gift. I had a part in that.
Oil painting painted in 2 hours
I ran in Warsaw a workshop for employees of a large international corporation HB Reavis. The formula for the workshop was that for four days, employees came after working hours to an art studio arranged in the large and spacious lobby of the company’s headquarters in Warsaw. The workshop was open to everyone. Each participant had the opportunity to paint for two hours, each day. I was surprised by the number of participants. They came determined to paint a prepared motif. Most often, they showed their chosen motifs on their phone. My role was to advise them on which to choose, and which ones to give up. Once they had chosen a picture, they set to work. I would circulate between one participant and another to advise them “what to do next” if I saw that they were stuck and couldn’t decide on their next move. Or I would also praise them, pointing out the merits of their artistic choices. I made them aware of the artistic value of the decisions they made, which they realised spontaneously. I saw the enthusiasm of the participants and the joy of the painted picture. These works were created within two hours! These were moments of joyful creativity. The participants painted with great enthusiasm. They created pictures which amazed their creators. On this day, strong emotions stimulated painting. Or perhaps to the love of painting? Maybe it was a Valentine’s Day of art? After the workshop, the participants took their work home with them. Did they say goodbye by asking when’s valentine’s day next year?
