It is All about Art

I've picked up some tricks along the way, though I'm far from being an expert. Hopefully, this isn't used as a guide on how to paint. One thing I've learned is not to hold the brush like a pencil; you hold it more like an orchestra leader conducting. As a former teacher who had to teach printing and writing, it's quite amusing to find myself having to undo some of my habits.

Colleagues often told me, "Oh, Karen, you're so creative," but when I did art with little kids, they would always protest, "I can't do it." Well, neither could I, so we did it together. I'm Karen Johansen Mussin, a retired elementary French immersion teacher. I decided I needed a different career than what I did while I was working, so I ended up becoming, I guess, an artist, not knowing I had that in me.

To me, art is about exploring different ways of doing things. I remember a painting I did that brought me joy just by looking at it when it was done. I had to really step outside my comfort zone to even start painting.

When we moved from Owen Sound to Stratford, I knew I needed to join the community, but what does that mean? It means getting to know people, going for coffee, talking about interests, and then saying, "Oh, I need that." "Yeah, the studio." "Get back to painting." "Well, that sounds like a good idea." "I need somebody to share the costs." "I don't know anyone who could share the cost." Then you think, "Maybe I'll try." When you move to a new community, you have the chance to reinvent yourself. There's a lot of creative energy, not just in this building, but in the town. You see someone doing something, and you think, "Oh, I could do that." And it was a whole revelation to me, whereas I thought you had to have a skill and it had to be there. But I've learned that you have to develop it.

So, I had to ask myself, "Am I going to regret not having tried?" You're always learning something. I'm enjoying the fact that I'm always trying to push my boundaries a little bit more. I go through little learning curves. "I can't do it." "I can't do it." "Oh yeah, I can't do it." "I can't do it." Then, man up and... it taught me, or is teaching me, that the messages we give to ourselves are often not accurate. We tell ourselves we can't do it, so we don't try. So, I had to put that down and say, "Okay, so what if it doesn't work out?" I finally got it in my head that all I'm doing is practicing, and when you practice, you make mistakes. So, then I could accept when things didn't turn out alright. And I realized that among many people, we all can paint, we all can do something creative; it's just allowing yourself to do it.