Happy clouds

I love making art.

But a brand new, fresh canvas 18x20" can run anywhere from $15 to $30.  Add in paint and brushes, and it's quite an expense, so I've found a few tricks to save a few pennies.

First of all -- use the paint you've got.

True story:  I took Painting 101 my freshman year in college with an art prof who had been chair of the department for about 30 years.  In my class was an older, non-traditional student who was well into her 40's, had a family, and was going to school for the first time.  She bought some paints for the class -- not many -- and used only those paints until the end of the term because she was trying to get by on a budget.  Her paintings were incredible.  My art prof said he had never seen anyone use color like that in his 30 years of teaching.  At the time, because I was 19 and knew everything, I didn't think they were that great -- but now I see the beauty of it.  And they were great.

I wish I had a picture to show you.

But anyhow, on to trick number two:
Buy old, crappy canvases from Goodwill, then repaint them!

Hello, Gorgeous.

At $1.99, yes, I'll take it!

A la Bob Ross's happy clouds.  I'll hang this in
our bedroom soon and post a picture of it on the wall.
It's very modern and not my usual style, but I it makes me
happy the way clouds do.