Watercolors
Copyright Jamie Zenteno Ministries 2023
The art of watercolor has been a recent hobby I have dabbled in within the last month or so. It is something all of my own. I didn’t take classes; I haven’t watched many videos and much like writing I have just let the brushes dance along the paper with free expression. It extends whatever emotion or thoughts I have running through my mind and transforms it into a creative outlet.
Now I will tell you this – painting with watercolors is not for the faint of heart. I have found it is far less forgiving than acrylics or other media I have used. I have discovered a few things to keep in mind when painting:
Work from light to dark.
It doesn’t have to have crisp lines or details
And for the love of all things holy do NOT add too much water.
So yes, I made a lot of mistakes and I have scratch pieces of papers for technique I’ve practiced on.
What makes this style of painting difficult is its unpredictable nature. The watery pigments seep and flow to their own delighted pathways. Some I can direct and some I cannot. It is also even more difficult to fix the mistakes because they show through the layers so easily.
Every encounter we have with friends, family, our spouses, or ourselves adds a thin layer to that relationship. Almost as if we’re living through the layers of a watercolor painting for each. As the relationship grows with time, mistakes are harder to correct if just left to dry so to speak.
I am not a perfect person nor do I not try to be. Talking with a friend recently, she has seen me transform and transition out of old mentalities I brought upon myself. I have had the tendency to have a perfectionistic complex. However, I am trying very hard to grow into accepting that life and relationship with people is messy and that is ok. I’m finding that it is even more beautiful from that perspective.
Some directions, relationships and conversations I can direct and some I cannot just like the watercolors and that is alright. I love what Romans says in chapter 15 verse 7:
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
There is so much grace filled in that one sentence.
I look at my paintings sometimes and begin to criticize my little mistakes here and there. Then I remember that there is no need to do so. Only to accept what is and sit in what was created.
