Hello, Bad Art Calling.

I am not an artist.

I appreciate art. I admire anyone who can create anything resembling art. But I have very little confidence in my ability to create anything of beauty.

Bad Art Night was made for people like me. People who want to try something new with zero pressure to produce anything resembling the subject of the night: in this instance, myself. The goal was to create a wire sculpture selfie using the concepts of contour drawing and wire molding. 

Contour drawing is just drawing using a single line, never letting the tip of your pencil leave the paper. But faces are hard, and I see my face every day. So, I drew the profile of my child instead. Some other participants must have felt the same way about faces and drew things like a flower, a cat, and even a flamingo. 

The wire sculpting was the most challenging part. It involved recreating our line drawings with wire. There was bending and twisting and cursing (thank you mute button). But I have to say, I was quite pleased with the result and shared a few good laughs with other bad artists.

The whole night reminded me of those popular, in-person paint nights I used to go to with my girlfriends (remember in-person events?). But instead of everyone attempting to recreate the same painting, we all had the chance to create something totally unique (and, bonus, it was free).

It was a relief to try something new this year and take a crack at being creative without the pressure of ending up with something good. The goal was to have fun being silly, without feeling silly, made even easier by the program being offered online.

My goal for the next Bad Art Night is to get my girlfriends to join me (with the promise of wine, of course). It’s taking place June 25. Registration is full, but if you have your own supplies, you can join anyway. Find the list of supplies and the Zoom link on the program page!

I actually like the way the profile of my daughter turned out. It’s hanging on the fridge next to her scribbles and handprints, all of which I would lovingly call art. 

Erin - Marketing and Communications