Happy Father's Day

Last night I went and saw Rocketman. For those of you who are unaware, I am a huge fan of Elton John. I have always been drawn to his music and his wonderfully crazy fashions. So when I saw a preview to a movie about him, of course I had to go see it. Even though I am a fan of his, I didn't know much about his personal life. I'm really not one to dig in to the personal lives of famous people. I just like to enjoy their talents. But seeing Rocketman, I never felt so connected to a famous person before. There were many things that happened in the movie that I could relate to when I was growing up. To make a story short, Elton had two narcissistic, emotionally abusive parents, that wrapped up into one, make up my dad.

Reading this, you may be wondering how this can be a good Father's Day story? I am blessed to have an amazing mom, but sadly, after years of trying to make a good relationship with my dad, for my overall wellbeing, I estranged from him. Even though I no long am in contact with my dad, I do know many wonderful men in the world. Many of them are wonderful dads and have shared their compassion and wisdom with me, and I am grateful that they have been there to show me that there are decent fathers and decent men out there.

For those of you who have an amazing dad, make sure you let him know it. Don't take him for granted. I hope you were able to celebrate with him today, and if you don't live near him, I hope you were able to give him a call. If your dad is no longer with you, I hope you remembered him and honored his memory.

For all of you emotionally uplifting, supportive, loving dads, I am wishing all of you  a Happy Father's Day. I hope it was a special day for you spent with your family and filled with love and joy.

Who's an artist?

Hey all. Welcome to my blog! For those who know me, I'm excited you decided to check it out. For those who don't know me, I'm Stacey. Owner of a traveling paint studio in Southeast Wisconsin, named Stickman Painting Studio. My team and I get to travel to various locations throughout the area and teach people how to paint, all while sipping on some liquid courage.

Yes. We are the lucky ones. We're doing something that we love. Plus we get to paint too! Just kidding. We do love teaching and painting (or at least my team tells me they do).

In the almost six years I've been in the paint and sip industry, one thing that never changes is people. There's at least one person at every event that says, I can't draw a stick man to save my life. Hence the studio name! But in all seriousness. Why is this? So many students come in, scared out of their wits, afraid they're going to do a bad job. Afraid they are going to be judged.

Remember when we were kids, when we had no fear to just create and draw and doodle (even if it was on our parents living room wall). We were excited to paint. To create mud sculptures in the backyard. And we couldn't wait to show our creations to our family and friends. We were proud of our work. But then, as we got older, something changed. In school, if we weren't "good enough," we stopped creating. We pushed that desire under the rug and moved on with our lives. Maybe some of us had and still have a hidden desire to want to create art again. Maybe some of us do create secretly.

In the industry I'm in, about 90% of my students say they haven't painted or created since grade or middle school, with a small percentage saying they have never created in their life (which I don't think I believe, sidewalk chalk art still counts!)

But why does this have to happen? A majority of the people I paint with state how much fun it was and how relaxing and therapeutic the class was when it was over. Not everyone in the world is going to be a van Gogh or a da Vinci. But why can't we all just create to create?

If you stopped making art at one point. How old were you? If you remember, why did you stop?