The first part of June is always super busy. I say that like the rest of the summer isn’t. Not so, but the first part of June, depending on what kids I have home, is really busy with camps and Church activites.

This past week I had the opportunity to facilitate 2 painting classes. They weren’t really instructed classes, but I got the kids going, and then I got to paint with them.

We have a Church recreational facility and camp here, and lots of wards and stakes from my Church, along with fire fighters during local fires, and so many other groups utilize the camp throughout the summer.

The first group was a young woman’s group. They wanted to paint on the first afternoon at camp, so I went and helped. This group painted with acrylic and all basically painted the same type of picture, a landscape with mountains. I gave them tips and tricks along the way on how to create depth and layer the paint. The pictures were all very unique and beautiful. I didn’t get a picture of everyone as I never remember to do that.

The second group was a 2 day thing, each afternoon. This was an Aaronic Priesthood camp. They came in small groups, about 8-10 young men at a time. This one was not a class as much as the other, as they provided all the materials and I just helped get the kids going. We only had about 45 minutes for this class, and it was done in watercolor. The picture was preprinted, so I gave brief instructions on how to blend and create depth and then they worked without much other instruction.

I enjoyed each class, and was surprised to watch the young men relax into the painting process. They were there having a lot of fun, there was tons of energy, but there’s just something about painting that calms and soothes the soul, or at least I think so.

This week my young woman’s group is at the camp with the rest of our Stake (8 other wards from the area). Tonight I will be teaching them a little bit about watercolor as they paint bookmarks for their scriptures. I am excited as bookmarks are a great quick painting project, but they are so fun to experiment on.

I really enjoy sharing something I love with the youth. I know not everyone will love doing what I do, but exposure in a large variety of subjects make a person more well rounded, and also give them an idea of how things work, or are created. I am glad I can be a part of that.