Ever considered yourself an 'artist'?... Neither did we, until we went to a very relaxed late morning paint session in Hervey Bay QLD called 'Sip, Paint & Munch over Brunch'!
It's just one of many events created by local artist Michelle Valdivia, aka Shelly Seashells. Lots of fun and whether you've painted before or not, you might just be surprised at how talented we all are without ever knowing it!
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BRIAN:
G'day and welcome to my life, my Story I'm Brian Pickering.
Now, all of us at some stage or other have felt a little bit creative, and there's a great little event that goes on here in Hervey Bay, where we're currently located, called Sip Paint & Munch over Brunch, and to tell us all about it is Michelle Valdivia, otherwise known as Shelly Seashells!
SHELLY:
Thanks Brian – lovely to see you again!
BRIAN:
Now, the first meeting we had was an event that you do here on the Fraser Coast.
Tell us about the events that you do and why you do them and what happens, then I'll give people a little bit of an update on my experience!
SHELLY:
What I do on a weekly basis is art sessions, and one of the components is a ‘sip and paint’ session, which is at a local venue or establishment where it's open to all ages and abilities, generally because it's a licenced premises.
So it's mainly catered for adults and adults enjoy alcoholic beverages along with something to nibble on like light appetisers and we have a paint session.
BRIAN:
Just to Relax?
SHELLY:
Yeah, just to relax and have fun and enjoy themselves without feeling apprehensive about working in an art studio or feel that they're inadequate with their creative ability.
BRIAN:
I don't feel inadequate, but I made a point of being a little bit silly with my effort. everyone around me… and there were about seven or eight other ladies, which was fantastic, and I was the only bloke there, everyone’s efforts were great but mine was a little bit ummm… it looked like a dog!
We were supposed to do a turtle!!
SHELLY:
Yes!
BRIAN:
At least that made people laugh! - So what got you into this whole artistic thing, and particularly why seashells and aquarium stuff and oceans and all that?
SHELLY:
Well, residing by the local seaside suburb of Hervey Bay here in QlD, I'm obviously surrounded and inspired by the local scenery, the marine life, and we have distinct features, landscape features such as Riverheads. if you take a drive out that way, you’ll see that it's quite different.
The landscape, is quite beautiful and I generally incorporate a lot of the native flora and fauna into my artwork.
BRIAN:
Art is such a creative thing, obviously, but it's also an outlet for emotions as well right?
SHELLY:
Yes and it can be also soothing, soothing to the soul. it can be dramatic; it can be intense because it can bring out a lot of those emotions. So, a lot of the people that come generally have a wide background and different emotional and life experiences, so they get to relax and feel that they can just ‘be’ without any pressure to conform or to work in a structured environment. They just get to free flow with their arts and creativity.
BRIAN:
I think a lot of people, myself included, didn't realise, how creative we can be
I mean, my wife Kaye did a beautiful job, I thought, and I was actually very surprised
In fact I think she was even more surprised at how well it came out.
What we had to do, in a nutshell, was copy a turtle that you had already painted and it was beautiful and we had to copy that… as I said, my effort wasn't the best, but it was a bit of fun doing it. But what I did particularly like was the fact that you don't tell everyone what to do…. You give them guidance and you say, ‘look… try this, try that’ and you're very kind about efforts such as mine.
SHELLY:
Yeah, because I don't want to change people’s efforts. So the way you are applying that paint onto canvas, I don't want to change that style. It's your unique style.
There’s a time and place though, like in the art studio or my weekly art sessions or when I have private tutorials, if someone wants to have more instructions and learn the technical side of drawing and the elements of painting, but in a sip paint & munch session, or if it's an Art For Fun session, which I hold regularly as well, open to all abilities and ages, it's all about having fun.
So again, that ‘un-structured’ environment so that people feel very comfortable and relaxed, that's the key. The rest just naturally follows. So I'll give you a little bit of guidance, maybe explain how to blend and apply the paint, but apart from that, it's in your hands to create that.
And it’s all about the fun aspect of it! And then a lot of people - because they had that first experience, and were really comfortable with it all and they created ‘something’ as well, they tend to come back the next time, so we have quite a lot of regulars!
BRIAN:
Oh we'll be back… we’ll be back. Now I've noticed there's a couple of other animals that I'd like to draw apart from sea turtles. The landscape ones I thought were really nice, and I'd like to give those a go.
SHELLY:
Yes we alternate the paintings. Sometimes they’re seascapes sometimes landscapes or animals, and it's all beautiful around here on the Fraser Coast in Queensland….
BRIAN:
And you can't go wrong living in paradise!!
SHELLY:
Hey, for a slice of paradise, come to a Sip and Paint session!
BRIAN:
There we go!! Thank you for joining us on MyLife... MyStory, which is YOUR life, YOUR story right?
SHELLY:
Yes thank you very much Brian.
PODCAST VERSION:
(c) 2021 - Brian Pickering & Kaye Browne
