Saturday, July 19, 2008

Ode to Bob Ross

Last summer I started watching re-runs of The Joy of Painting on our local PBS affiliate, KCTS, and became incredibly interested in it. When I went back to work I had long forgotten about Bob Ross and his happy little trees and how amazing his paintings are, until I found out you can watch him on Comcast On Demand! Now that I have found this, I try to take some time out during the week or when I'm stressed to watch this show.

My daughter loves to watch this show as well, but that does not surprise me because she is very artistic. My mom has always said I was artistic, but I don't see it. I am terrible at drawing and could not sit still long enough to enjoy painting. Now that I am older, I wish I could pick up a brush and do what Bob Ross does. I'm sure with time and patience I could, but those are two things I lack at the moment. My daughter enjoys arts and crafts, makes her own jewelry with beads, and we try to encourage her to do so by taking her to Michaels and letting her pick out stuff to make crafts with. She also enjoys music, a lot, and my mom had shipped her clarinet up to us before her visit last week so my daughter can play it in the school band around her 5th grade year. I have a good friend who is going to teach her basic stuff on the clarinet as well as note reading. This is why I work- so we can afford these little luxuries. It means the world to me to be able to indulge her in activities that can shape her as a person and help her grow and learn.

As for myself- I would love to take a painting class. Watching Bob Ross is a form of therapy for me, when I'm stressed it helps me wind down and appreciate art more. I'm always amazed at how people can take a blank canvas and turn it into a work of art. It's not just watching the technique, but looking at the finished product and envisioning yourself in that moment in that picture, whether it's on a snowy mountain, or in the woods surrounded by nature and the "happy little trees".

Some people have made parodies of Bob Ross poking fun at him, and while some of them are hilarious, I still implore people to watch his show on PBS if you get a chance. Some people will be bored by it- but for some of us, it's a form of therapy and is quite soothing. There are few people in this world I would have loved to have met before they passed away- and Bob Ross is one of them.

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