I've posted this bit of nostalgia before but felt like I wanted to share it again.
I wonder whether I would have discovered oil painting or painting at all if my mother hadn't followed her intuition...
My First Oil Painting
12" x 16"
Still life oil painting on canvas board, by Marina Petro
Only one in the entire universe, but you can't have it...
Once upon a time, when I was 14 years old, my mother bought me one of those large paperback step-by-step oil painting books and a set of basic oil paints. She must have been following her intuition because I don't recall expressing an interest in oil painting. Up to that point, I was fooling around with charcoal portraits. Boy do I wish I had those to show you now. I think I threw them out or lost them in one of my many moves...gypsy that I was. They were excellent if I must say so myself.
This still life is my first attempt at oil painting. When it was completed, I placed it, still wet, on a chair and my father promptly sat on it. I left the painting as is but his slacks went into the trash.
I've had it stashed in my storage room upstairs. I am probably not going to give it a title, but if one pops into your mind, I'd like to know....I might change my mind. I plan to give it to my 18 year old granddaughter as a symbol of persistence in developing innate talents....as I continue to persist in developing my innate talents...
I am recalling the years when my 3 daughters were little....We lived in a small apartment in Flushing, NY. I would set up my canvas and paints on the kitchen table between meals and paint when I could. There was no other place available and nowhere I could leave my equipment set up. Anyway, I thought I'd share a bit of my history and nostalgia with you today....
Today's Quotation: "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
-Calvin Coolidge
