The Joy of Painting – Friday Fictioneers
THE DETAILS:
Friday Fictioneers: 1 picture, 100 words, scores of people from around the world sharing their creativity and vision. Feel welcome to join in; visit Rochelle Wisoff-Fields HERE to find out how.
THE PROMPT:
This week’s photo prompt courtesy of, and copyright by, Georgia Koch.
The Joy of Painting
I don’t tell this to many people but I feel comfortable around you so I don’t mind sharing.
I put my paints away when Bob Ross died. Some folks laugh when I say he taught me everything but I don’t care. Before Bob I couldn’t paint by the numbers; with him I created waterfalls and moved mountains. He showed me how to free my imagination and create my own world.
I gave away everything but I kept this boat painting as a reminder of what I learned from Bob: the secret to doing anything is believing you can do it.
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Please visit the other Friday Fictioneers by clicking the little blue frog below. You’ll find just about every type of genre you could imagine and some really creative writers.
“I guess I’m a little weird. I like to talk to trees and animals. That’s okay though; I have more fun than most people.” – Bob Ross
Michael B. Fishman
Michaelsfishbowl 
I loved this. It shows the emotion and complexity of an artist. And of course I love Bob!
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Thanks, Jennifer!
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Dear Michael,
What a lovely tribute to Mr. Ross. Do you remember Jon Gnagy? I learned to shade a bell from one of his TV lessons in living black and white.
Nicely told. I think your MC needs to take up painting again.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. No, I don’t remember Jon Gnagy. As I was writing the story I did remember the ads from the Art Instruction Schools(?) that I’d see on matchbook covers that asked you to draw a turtle or a puppy. I sent for their test and failed!
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That’s interesting, Michael. I never knew you could actually fail one of those tests. I took one when I was around ten or eleven. I remember someone coming to our house trying to sell my parents on the idea of my art education through their company.
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I remember Gnagy. I had one of his books on charcoals.
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Dear Michael,
What a moving tribute to Bob Ross. Did you really learn a lot from Bob or was this simple tale wholly a work of fiction? It read well and simply and reminded me of my father who was an artist and his own sort of Bob Ross. Do you paint, sir?
Thanks for sharing this.
Aloha,
Doug
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Hi Doug,
The only bit of truth in the story is that I couldn’t even paint by numbers. I’m not sure though if that’s really because of a lack of talent or simply a lack of patience. The only kind of painting I do is in Photoshop with with photos I take. I’ll play around with them and enhance them in different ways, like the photo of the statue with the swirls that I use for the banner art on the blog.
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Very touching.
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Thank you for reading it!
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He put his paints away! That’s sad. I think Bob wouldn’t have wanted that to happen. Lovely story.
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That’s a good point, Margaret. The narrator, despite his admiration for Bob, really did something Bob would never have wanted to have happen. I never thought of that when I wrote it! Thank you for the comment and for making me think!
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A lovely story. I don’t know of the man, but he sounds like someone I’d have liked to know.
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Thanks Sandra! If you’ve ever got some free time you can find videos of him on youtube.
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I probably watched hundreds of episodes of Bob Ross. It always amazed me how he could turn out a complete work of art in such a short period of time (and make it look so easy). He was also such a great teacher, instilling confidence and telling us it was OK if ours didn’t look exactly like his. Thanks for this fine tribute to the man.
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I’ve seen Bob Ross on TV and it’s an interesting show. Good story and a fitting tribute to him. Well done, Michael. 🙂 — Suzanne
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