Thank You Bob!

“We don’t make mistakes here, we just have happy accidents.

We want happy, happy paintings.

If you want sad things, watch the news.

Everything is possible here. This is your little universe.”

BOB ROSS (1942-1995)

I've always been mesmerized by painters like Bob Ross. I credit Bob for encouraging me to be an artist from the time I was a little girl. He's the reason I love oils. In college I carried his picture in my wallet, only partly because I thought it good nerdy fun.

I've always appreciated watching people who are really good at what they do. I once watched a professional window washer in awe, tossing rags through the air with ease, flipping the squeegee with the grace of a good baton twirler. Last week I was watching PBS and One Stroke Painting by Donna Duberry was on. Watching these painters is amazing to me, the way one stroke creates a flower complete with highlights and shading. But Bob Ross was the master of the couch painting painters. Who couldn't love his soothing voice, oozing with persistent optimism, talking about populating his painted world with "happy little trees". He taught me to look with my artist's eye at everything around me. To be brave with my art. Go ahead and paint a giant black rock in the foreground of a pastel sunset and make it work. Thank you for your inspiration Bob!