I am having fun painting up a storm!
On August 4, 2025 I attended an event at the Senior Center called “Sip and Chat” where 20 of us were supplied with:
1. A 11″ by 14″ canvas
2. A paint brush
3. A paper plate (where Rosemary and Toni alternately place dabs of paint)
4. A small glass of wine
5. A plate of grapes and small bits of cheese
I had never painted a picture before, but I gave it a try.
50 years ago I had taken a board and added some paint to it and showed it to my friend Roger Bansemer (http://www.bansemer.com). Roger laughed and said “Don’t give up your day job”.
Now 50 years later I had in front of me a real canvas. The artist guiding us now said to draw what we saw in his painting, a winter scene with birch trees. So we did. Here is what I painted:
Number 1. My first painting
I sent a photo up to Roger who is now in St. Augustine. He wrote back:
“Hi John,
Fabulous. Maybe you should give up your day job.
Roger
no kidding, it’s pretty good John.”
So , with that encouragement I decided to take some of my photographs and see if I could paint them.
You can tell that it was not until I had painted a dozen or so that they started to look better!
Painting number 2, an Osprey, not really a good likeness, but I persevered.
It is a good thing that I am only doing this for fun, I would never make a living at it as Roger has for more than 50 years!!
