I grew up around paint.  My mom owned a ceramic shop and we would have paint sitting on the counters in our house everywhere we looked. My mom would sit for hours in the evening painting intricate details on ceramic pieces, like eyes on figurines and laces on shoes.  And then there were the brushes.  We had millions of brushes in jars in all places around the house.  On counters.  In the kitchen.  On the dining room desk.  In places most people would find paperwork, or mail, or other odds and ends, we had brushes upright in plastic jars.

I think we are all drawn to painting and art in some fashion. Who isn’t captured by art museums and beautiful paintings?  We don’t have to know the meaning behind it or the story or the inspiration or the thought process behind every painting to know we love it.  And let’s be honest, how many of us have studied art or the different art movements?  Very few. And even if we have studied art and painters, we are still drawn to what we personally love, as art in itself is subjective.  The fact is, we love art for how it makes us feel.  How nostalgic do we feel when we see an easel and a pile of brushes and a bunch of open jars of paint?  Who hasn’t pictured themselves in a room with nothing but windows overlooking mountains or the sea or the beach or the city and a large canvas in the corner in which we could sit and just, paint?  Who could resist sitting down at an art studio with a blank canvas and closing our eyes and simply, paint?  It’s romantic.  It’s nostalgic.  It’s dreamy.  And it seems like every week there is a new ‘wine and canvas’ type of event in the town I live in so obviously everyone deep down wants to paint ~ even if it takes a little wine to make it happen.  We all have a little bit of an artist inside of us.

So let’s apply that to our nails.  Our nails are our own, private, blank canvas.  We can paint them however we want.  We can paint seascapes and beaches and mountains and mona lisa’s.  It’s all right at our fingertips.  Embrace the inner artist in yourself and paint your nails.  Be brave.  Have fun.  Find your own beauty.

VanGogh stated “If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint.  And that voice will be silenced.”  As we go forward in 2017, I ask you to paint.  By all means, paint.  And silence any voice that says you cannot.

With love from Grand Haven,

Julie