the Answer!

Yes, you can get high painting with acrylic paint. Of course it is all in your head or maybe a little bit in your heart and it won't fry any brain cells. Back in the 60's, we called it a "natural high", one that didn't require chemicals to achieve. Over the past few weeks, as I have worked on my house, preparing for paint and putting the beautiful colors on the gable, even with a 1/4" brush, I have found myself feeling what I can only describe as a "high". There may even be an addictive aspect to it as I was a bit morose over missing my painting "fix" on a rainy day.

Having limited experience with chemically induced highs, I have most often found that sense of warm, joyful lightness in accomplishment, in beauty and in creating beauty. Sculpting something beautiful out of wood, building an ornate porch post, restoring an earlier beauty to the front of my house, all bring me a sense of fulfillment and contentment. I find that there is a point in a creative endeavor where I begin to really see the potential of the finished work. At that point, the project becomes an act of love and working on it leaves me feeling much the way love (or chocolate) does.

This really isn't the first time I painted. I painted the garage once and it only took 5 years. For some reason the creative senses didn't get aroused over garage painting. I started down one side, rounded one end, ran out of paint, then got sidetracked. Did I mention I have ADD? By the time I got ready to paint again, the color I was using was discontinued. So, started painting with a new color from where I left off and then, you guessed it, the same thing happened again. This was all in the days before you could take any paint chip in and get it matched. Finally, with the third color used, most of the garage got painted, in part because my son joined in and finished up the west end. That project didn't leave me with a particular love for the process of applying paint.

The difference in how I feel about painting my house must be related to the lengthy consideration of color schemes, the careful recreation of shingles to take the place of broken or lost ones and the painstaking painting of one shingle at a time to achieve the pattern I hoped for. It has become a creative work rather than a paint job. Anticipating the completion of the project, how it will look with new colors and textures, how it will all fit together when it’s done leaves me with a sense of excitement and impatience.

It has now been nearly two weeks since I last painted. Having passed up one pleasant weekend day due to feeling a need to catch up a few inside chores, I find myself unable to get back to painting as it has been overcast and rainy almost every day since. Humidity is high, doors are swelling and painting in that doesn’t seem like a good idea. I’m looking forward to some dry sunny days that will draw the moisture out of the wood so I can move on with painting. Meanwhile, there is always the basement to clean out. EWWW! At least the stairs going down there look good.