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Van Gogh I Am Not

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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34 Comments

  1. Marc

    I do not. My eldest son keeps trying to make it big in the art field. He’s has some small projects where he got a paycheck, illustrating children’s books, but no big payload like getting hired by Pixar. He has 10’s of thousands in student loans to pay off. My son-in-law’s grandmother (on the other hand) just picked up a brush and started painting. She had no formal training, just a gift, and has created and sold hundreds of paintings in her lifetime. A couple of her paintings are hanging in our State Capitol building and a couple court houses. I guess you either got it, or you don’t.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That is really cool about your son. And I agree, some people just have the gift and others have to work hard at the gift and then there’s the others that work hard and just never get better! Like me. 🙂

  2. Roz@weightingfor50

    OMG, how fantastic!!! Such a great idea. I’m a non-artist. A few years ago I took a watercolor painting class, thinking I’d create a masterpiece. Um…it was so far from masterpiece. But..I did enjoy the exercise of creating. (and I aww’d out loud at the pup!) Have a wonderful Thursday.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s cool that you TRIED though! How fun!

  3. Carbzilla

    Chris is really the artist in the family though I was a muralist for a brief period of time. I can copy like nobody’s business, but I can’t come up with anything unique. That sounds super fun – let me know next time they have a Groupon!

    I also want to go Gouda tasting. Let’s get our cheese on!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Ha! That’s cool. Where are your murals?

      Definitely! I’d love to go cheese tasting!!!

  4. K Marie

    We have one of those in my city. I have always had a blast. The best part is seeing everyone’s interpretation of the painting.
    I love anything crafty – making jewelry and anything else I have seen on Pinterest.

    Keep on painting!!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s cool you have one in your city. It’s such a fun experience and I can’t wait to go back.

      Have you tried selling any of your jewelry?

  5. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance

    I am so NOT artistic. Glad you had a great time though! 🙂

  6. Logan @ Mountains and Miles

    Very nice!!! I love Gouda, too! Cheese is my weakness – it was also my first word! (I was a chubby little kid…).

    I have always wanted to do one of these paint and wine classes. They look like so much fun and everyone I know who goes to them (even if they don’t have an artistic bone in their body) always come back with something impressive!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s too awesome that your first word was cheese. My first word was a full sentence. LOL

      If you can try the class near you, give it a go! It was so much fun!

  7. Carrie @ Season It Already!

    Wow! That turned out great! I wish there was a class like that around here. I have absolutely no artistic talent myself and it looks like fun!

  8. Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed

    I wanted to be a Disney animator when I was growing up. I loved drawing all the characters out of my books. Now I’m a civil engineer… and I draw roads in CADD. Sadly it’s not quite as fun lol.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s cute! Sorry it doesn’t translate to CADD. 😉

  9. Jill @ a Girl in Progress

    I’m so glad you wrote this post! I have a friend that was trying to talk some of us into doing a similar Groupon for an art studio here in Kansas City. I was very skeptical. Now that I know how much fun it is and that it is great for nonartists like myself (I AM an accountant, after all!), I’ll have to take her up on it!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      YAY! Give it a try and let me know how you like it. It’s SO FUN!

  10. Robyn

    oh that looks like so much fun! sometimes being an artist isn’t just about being “good” its about the desire to create something, and you did that! I always wanted to be a singer but i never had a good voice, oh well we have to use the talents we are given i suppose 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Good point! It’s the same with writing. I write a lot and most of it isn’t something I’d ever think about publishing but sometimes I just have the desire to write SOMETHING!

  11. Tara

    Lisa, I just found your blog and I must say I am thoroughly enjoying it!

    I, too, am not the dream artist I wish I was. I always have these great ideas, and once in a blue moon I will put it on paper and realize that it’s just not going to work. Ha.

    Such a great style of class though, I hope to find one in San Francisco. A Starry Night happens to be mine (and a million other people’s) favorite Van Gogh.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thank you for checking out my blog, Tara!

      Me too–it always looks a lot better in my head than what I put on paper!

  12. Lori

    I love that you are going to give this to your mom! That is so sweet! A shop opened up like this close by that we might try. It’s called Sip and Paint or something like that. They sell beer and wine and do a class like this.

    I am actually one of those really creative people LOL. I am a musician, plus I do other things like making soap and beaded jewelry. I took a watercolor introductory class that was so much fun and something I want to do more of.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Isn’t it strange how some things just don’t translate? Like I’m pretty good at photography (sometimes) and writing but art…not so creative. 🙂

      You should check out the place that opened near you. I bet you and John would have a blast!

  13. Julie

    What a fun date night!

    I love a Van Gogh quote that I saw a while back…

    If you hear a voice within you say, “You cannot paint”, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

    I borrowed it and slightly altered it to say:
    When I hear a voice that says, “You can’t run”, I will keep running and that voice will be silenced.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I hadn’t heard that quote. Love it!

  14. Deb

    I’ve been doing graphic design & making jewelry for 11+ years. My best year I made about $6,000.00. Yeah, $6K. 🙁

    I love what you guys did there! Looks like so much fun!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s pretty good Deb! You should be proud.

  15. Dave

    I used to be able to copy stuff pretty well in terms or drawing/painting. But I do not have an ounce of creativity to be able to draw or paint something right in front of me. I am just not good at visualizing having always been more of a left brained/numbers sort of person.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Being able to copy stuff is a pretty good skill, though. Even though I was copying the instructor, my painting was still a little bit…off… 🙂

  16. Jodi @ Jodi, Fat or Not

    I keep saying I want to try this – looks like fun!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I think you’d love it!

  17. I ❤ 2 Eat

    Hey, cool painting!! I used to paint when I was in high school – mostly water color and pastels. I never went too far with oil paints, but was getting there. Wasn’t too bad at it, and wish I had continued. It’s like my singing…I took lessons because my parents thought it was a good idea, but hated my lessons. Now I wish I had kept on with it also, because I regret not being able to sing anymore!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s cool you painted before. Have you thought about taking it up again?

  18. Narconon Fresh Start

    I’ve always loved reading your post because of its honesty and I’m excited to follow along as you take on weight watchers – good luck!

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