…and other last-minute extra-curriculars.

This Tuesday, I signed up for a Schreyer event that was pushed out to me via email– it was a last-minute call, as I am wont to make, and I would have to say that I am thoroughly happy with my choice. Not only was the evening a success, but the spontaneity helped me to shake things up!

The event was called Painting with Pat, and it is one of those smaller-scale things that bring together a motley crew of available people from around the dorm. Although I live in Atherton and consider myself somewhat outgoing– if not by nature, then at least by wishful thinking– I do not know most people here. I decided to test the waters. Walking in, I saw entirely new faces.

I will admit, that familiar discomfort from the school lunchroom snuck its way into the paint room as I decided where to sit. However, I soon learned more about the people around me through their paintings– one koi pond, one landscape, and one funky abstraction. These people all had stories to tell, and chatting was somehow easier with a brush in hand, absorbed in a picture of my own.

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I painted the young clownfish from the HUB aquarium, whom I have lovingly dubbed “Booger.” He loves his anemone like only a clownfish can, and he snuggles in it every night. I see him flipping and swishing, happily rolling over his round belly and lazily rotating right side-up again. I am sure there is some biological or otherwise Darwinist mechanism that explains his delighted wiggling in and out of his home, but I prefer to think of it fancifully, because Booger does not know the difference. You see, he is not very smart. It therefore falls upon me to be delighted by him!– as a painter, this means that I am basically obligated to use him as my muse.

(Image Source)

While all of this profound affection for Booger the clownfish came out in the painting, I also learned about the stories behind the works of others, as well. The abstract artist loved to express ideas that were better suited for the visual medium. Some folks loved to make something that they were proud of; others liked to be silly. For me, I got into painting through my Great Grandma Toini Haryu, who was a Finnish painter. In a way, she helped me to learn about my fellow folks at Atherton, because I know that she influenced me to pick up a brush in the first place. I ended up being very happy to revisit my roots and learn something about others at the same time– and all of this came from a last-minute decision!

Ultimately, I am glad that I set aside time to Paint with Pat. Not only did I have a delightful hour of conversation and relaxing brushstrokes, but I became more familiar with people in my community through an art form I love. As I find my place at college, I resolve to make more time for the little, spontaneous things, like meeting a few potential friends and sharing a canvas.