Painting with the Young Women

I had a fun time with the young women at church on Wednesday evening. Another sister (who is a real painter) and I (who am a play painter) were asked to help the young women paint pictures of a lighthouse. The goal was two-fold: 1) help them learn a new skill or at least be exposed to a new skill; and 2) to prepare for the Young Women in Excellence program later in the fall. They have talked about lighthouses during the year as it has been sort of a theme for them. You know, letting your light so shine and so on.

I happen to love lighthouses, so I was excited to offer my little experience. The other sister got the boards for them to paint on and she and I just brought all our paints and brushes. The girls were divided into two groups and we each took one. We were all in the gym, though, so we could see what everyone was doing.

After giving a little introduction - I did that since I talk too much anyway and Daina is very quiet - we just let them go. They had a lot of fun. Some of them went right to work and knew what they wanted to do from the beginning. Others required a lot of encouragement to even make a pencil mark on the board. I just kept walking around the table, giving a little hint or help here and there, but mostly encouraging them. I found that I could find something to praise on almost every painting. Some were really good with color, others had a real sense of perspective, others were very stylistic.

When they were all finished and laying out together, the effect was very pleasing. The leaders kept the paintings and they will all be displayed at their program which is a chance for all the young women to share various projects and skills that have worked on during the year. I think all the girls are or should be proud of their paintings. One of the nice things about art is that it only really needs to please you. And, I hope, all the young women were pleased with themselves.