My first Paint and Sip

My daughter invited me to a Paint and Sip brunch as my Mother's Day gift. This is the first time I had been to such an event. I have been seeing posts on Facebook for several years of couples who have gone to evening painting events but I never had an interest. I'm not much of a drinker so I did not understand why there was such a big deal about sipping a mimosa. I had one that was pineapple and mango and as usual, I did not feel a thing. I also had a large waffle with butter and syrup which was really delicious.

In the cover photo, my daughter Kiesha is on the left and I am on the right and we are holding out finished products. You can see that my fine motor skills have deteriorated with age because the white background on my daughter's portrait is oval-shaped just like the image that was our example. I saw it and I tried but when I began painting it was as if I had no control over my fingers. For this reason, I will stick to typing stories on my laptop.

For those who are not familiar with this type of event, you begin with a blank canvas as seen in the above image. I named the elephants Mrs. Jumbo and little Dumbo for a very special reason. On the Friday before Mothers Day in 1990 my daughter was 2 and 1/2 years old. The Disney channel broadcast the cartoon Dumbo and we watched it together. When it got to the scene where Mrs. Jumbo was locked up as a mad elephant and reached out to little Dumbo with her snoot the song Baby of Mine began playing.

As the characters on the cartoon began crying so did my daughter and me. We hugged each other as we sobbed and cried buckets of tears that day. I still cry every time I view this precious mother and baby scene. Poor little Dumbo being separated from his mother was so cruel. I am elated that 32 years later we have had the opportunity to share another special mother-daughter memory.

I told my daughter how much I appreciated the afternoon outing at the Paint and sip as it was fun to try my painting skills. This was a very different way to celebrate Mother's Day as I was used to church breakfasts or brunches at local restaurants. I am thankful this event was on Saturday because this leaves how I enjoy Sunday totally to me. The image below is me trying my hand at painting.

There were people walking around saying it was great and I was doing a good job and I wanted to say, "Shut up, you lie." All I had to do was look at my daughter's picture which is in the next image to see how far from the mark I fell, but I'm good with it. This was a fun thing to do and I am not taking it seriously.

The above painting is mine. The instructors tell you which colors to use and where to begin and end. My colors just seemed to run into each other but it was fun as I was painting. I love how the mother in the image is leading her baby who is following along trusting his or her parent. I am so glad that today's Mother's Day brunch had the pachyderms for the painting. It was a bright sunshiney day although a little windy for May. I realized when I returned home that I had become used to wearing a mask and pulling it down to eat, rather than this being an annoyance. I also did not even consider how the tables were spread out as social distancing. I guess some things are becoming our new normal.

The following painting is my daughter's and I can see the vast difference if no one else can, Her white background looks more like the one in the sample painting as it is oval. Her baby elephant has his snoot near the end of his mother's tail while mine is closer to the trunk. I saw online that Paint and sips can be for whatever occasion you choose. Date night, girls night out or paint a pet are a few of the ideas for painting with a purpose. You can even do virtual paint and sips.

The gist of a paint and sip event is that it combines a professionally-led painting class with a high-energy environment and a few drinks. My daughter paid in advance and all I had to bring was myself. The paints, canvas, food and drink were all included.