Never ever ever EVER go with me to an art supply store unless you are fully prepared to stay for an infinitely indefinite length of time. If there could possibly be a heaven on earth, it comes in the form of Hobby Lobby and Joann's. As the automatic doors slide open, you enter a new world. A world of new possibilities, new ideas, and lots of really cool stuff.
Fabric of every color, texture, and price tag jumps out and grabs me by the eyes crying, "Look at me!!! I'm GORGEOUS!!!! I'd make a perfect bag or I could even be used for that skirt pattern you've had stashed away for a year now. I'd even look good just sitting on the sewing room fabric shelf waiting for you to make up your mind!" Let me tell you, it takes a lot of willpower to resist reasoning like that.
Yarn. I like the dull colors the best. I have no idea why. Typically bold colors catch my attention, but when it comes to yarn, the more drab it is the more likely I am to fall in love with it. Big fluffy skeins also captivate me. They call out to me to take them off the cold, hard shelves and lovingly squeeze them and rub them against my cheek. Unfortunately, I already have baskets and drawers full of yarn of varying colors and sizes that I can't seem to find the time to sit down and put to any use.
The scrap booking paper aisle has always fascinated me. Not that I'm a scrapbooker - I haven't the patience for it, I just love paper. Designs, themes, textures, colors...I never get tired of looking at them. You can mix and match, add cute stickers, stamps, etc. Endless possibilities.
Graphite pencils, charcoal, erasers (I love erasers!), oil pastels, calligraphy pens, ink, blank painting canvases, sketch pads - I love them all. However, all of these pale in comparison to the occupants of my very favorite aisle in every art store. And that would be...wait for it....
PAINT BRUSHES!!!!!!!
Those wonderful little creations made of wood - sometimes plastic - and varying kinds of bristles. Little skinny ones, medium sized ones, big papa bear fluffy ones that remind you of your mother's makeup brushes. Script liners, filberts, squares, rounds, fans...I could just stand there and stare at them all day.
There is a certain excitement about having just the right brush for the job that needs to be done. The task is finding it. And then you have to decide if you REALLY need the size 4 filbert or should you get the size 3 square instead since you only have enough money left for one and you need both. You decide that in a pinch you could use either one to get the job done, but filberts are you favorite. However, the filbert also happens to be more expensive. Of course, you could put back one of the tubes of paint you were planning to purchase and get both brushes. Then comes the process of deciding which color you could do without until you can scrounge up some more money. You then try to remember which tubes you have at home and how depleted their contents are. You draw a blank and are afraid to choose and get home only to find that you made the wrong choice. Turning from your basket again to the lovely brushes on the shelf, you sigh and decide to get the cheaper square. Your hand reaches out to take it, but your eyes are still on the filbert that you really want. You put the square back and take the filbert from the shelf. Turning it over and over in your hand you try to objectively decide which brush would work better...
You get the point...I love brushes. If I had the money I buy one, maybe two, of each. Filberts, I would probably buy three or four in each size. They just have such a delightful way of pushing the thick oil paint around on a canvas. They're so sleek and soft and pretty...okay, I'll stop now.
So there you have it. I've made my confession. I love my paint brushes. I love to shop for paint brushes. I love just standing in the store LOOKING at paint brushes. There is only one thing that would make the whole experience even better - shopping with someone who gets just as excited over paint brushes as I do!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment