Art for the Win!

It started on a day with no particular purpose for Claire, until she went to art class.

Art class was her most favorite and treasured hobby.  She loved how creative and expressive you could be.

When she was angry, she sat down and attacked the canvas with her paintbrush.  She smeared paint and all sorts of things on it and made beautiful masterpieces.

When she was bored, Claire found a piece of paper and drew a gorgeous landscape that no one would have thought to draw.

Today at Art Class, Mrs. Taylor had them drawing a sunset on the beach. 

Claire thought back to her trips in Oceanside.  Her perfect memory allowed her to see every detail, her younger siblings building sandcastles, and her older brothers out surfing.  She even remembered parents sitting reading books under a red and white striped umbrella.  She remembered the feeling of the wet squishy sand under her feet and the salty smell of the ocean.

She felt confident that her drawing would be amazing, so she brushed back her blonde hair and started looking for supplies.

Claire went over to the supply shelf and looked through the different selections. 

She looked at pastels, watercolors, she even considered simple crayons.  

How am I going to find anything? she thought as she kept scanning the shelf.

“Yes!” she squealed in the utmost delight as her hazel eyes found a box of new colored pencils. 

Claire strode back towards her seat celebrating.

As she sat down Mrs. Taylor started to speak.

“All right everyone I hope you found the supplies you were looking for,” she said tossing back her shoulder length brown hair.

Everyone in the class nodded. 

“Well, I‘ll give you thirty minutes to start your masterpieces,” she said.  She gave a weird smile like she didn’t mean what she said when she said “masterpieces”.

Claire was ready.  She stretched her hands and gripped her pencil.

The class worked in complete silence and it felt like seconds later she said “class dismissed” and collected their art.

Claire did not want to go to her English Class.  It was her least favorite subject and she despised it.  Although she was quite good at it, she didn’t like it.

She reluctantly grabbed her pink and blue backpack, walking out of the classroom.

The rest of school went by surprisingly fast and then it was her favorite part of the day.  Lunch.

Plunk!  Claire dropped an apple on her tray skimming by as fast as she could. 

Her eyes scanned the cafeteria looking for one person in particular.  Sophie.

Claire ran over to her as fast as she could go (when you’re not trying to drop your lunch).

“Hey there!  No running in the cafeteria or I’ll report you to your teacher!” screamed the lunch helper over all of the students’ noise.

“Sorry.  It won’t happen again,” said Claire apologetically.

The lunch helper looked away and went back to helping a kindergartener open up a bag of chips.

“Claire!” exclaimed Sophie.  “I almost thought that you didn’t come to school today!”

“Yeah, sorry.  Art finished a little late today,” said Claire apologizing for the second time that day.

Claire plopped down next to Sophie.  She was excited to tell her about her afternoon at Art Class.

“What did you do in Art Class?” asked Sophie before she took a bite into her corndog.

“It was really good!  We had to draw a sunset on a beach and I drew one of my trips to Oceanside.”  She grabbed her apple and took a small bite out of it.

“That sounds fun!  I was in boring math and Mr. Mática gave us the longest lecture on how important math is for us in the future.  It almost took up the entire class!” She leaned toward her best friend making sure none of the lunch helpers were listening. “Although, I’m pretty sure it's not that important to know it because most of the time, grown-ups just use calculators.”  

Both of the girls went into a giggle fit. 

Claire laughed,” No disagreement there!”

More giggles from the inseparable pair.

“Stop talking and giggling you two or you won’t get out in time for your next class!” said a different lunch helper.  There must be something going around with the lunch helpers because they weren’t giving the girls a break!

“Well we sure wouldn’t want to miss English now would we?” said Claire, smiling at the lunch helper, sarcasm pouring out of her every word.

The helper looked down and walked away.

Another giggle fit erupted despite the warning.

When they finally stopped their faces were red.  Then they finally started eating the food on their tray.

“Can I come over today?” asked Sophie, trying not to make eye contact so they wouldn’t keep laughing.

“Sorry, I have soccer today.”

“Oh.  I forgot you had so many hobbies,” said Sophie brushing her blonde hair away from her face.  Then, she looked up at the white ceiling.

“I wish I had a hobby as good as one of yours.  I only do tumbling.”

Even though tumbling was a great hobby for Sophie she just didn’t like it.  Her mom put her in it when she was younger because Sophie liked to move.  Now she just didn’t feel like it was the right thing for her.

Tapping sounds erupted around the cafeteria encircling it in a pitter-patter.

“Good afternoon everyone!  I regret to inform you that we will have a rainy day schedule,” said the principal over the intercom.  A lot of groans sounded around the gigantic room from the younger grades.

After a long silence Claire finally spoke.  “I guess you can over today.  I won’t have soccer practice today.

Sophie perked up a little bit.  “Maybe you could help me find a hobby I like,” said Sophie with the slightest bit of hope in her voice.

“Consider it done!  Now let’s get to Boringville, I mean English.”  The girls smiled at each other for the rest of lunch, even knowing that they were heading into Boringville.

Claire and Sophie walked home together in the rain.  On the forecast it had not predicted rain so they put their backpacks over their heads.

When they finally got to Claire’s house they dropped their backpacks in Claire’s room and went to get some snacks.

Sophie opened the fridge and grabbed some grapes while Claire went into the pantry to grab a mystery snack.

They both picked up a plate and Sophie sat down on the stool while Claire finished adding some grapes.

Sophie took in all of the details.  She looked around at the soaps and towels near the giant sink.  She looked at the chocolate brown colored cabinets and their silver handles.  Sophie smelled the spice and listened to the rain.  She felt the cream colored three-legged stool beneath her.  It was a perfect day!

Claire sat down and put something next to Sophie.  She put a finger over her lip. 

“Shh.  My mom can’t know we had some of her chocolates.”

Sophie nodded and then popped the chocolate in her mouth.

Sweets before healthy food was her motto.  Apparently it was Claire’s too because she ate hers first also.

When they were finished with their snacks they went into Claire’s room.  Her room had pink drapes and two bunk beds up against the wall.  Some teddy bears were strung around the room and the closet door was open to reveal hangers with a variety of different clothes on them.  The beige carpet felt soft under their shoes.

Claire went behind her white dresser and reached her hand behind it.  The space was tight but she managed to slip her hand behind.  When her hand reappeared she held up a brown easel.  Then her hand went behind the dresser only to pull out another easel.

Claire stood them up and pulled the back leg out on each easel so it wouldn’t topple over.  She adjusted them to match each of their heights.  Claire made hers a bit taller and kept Sophie’s at the average height.

Claire dashed out of the room and came back with blank pieces of paper and two canvases.  She set the papers down on her desk in one corner of the room and opened the drawer to grab two pencils.

“Catch!” screamed Claire tossing an orange pencil at Sophie.  Sophie barely caught it and struggled to keep hold of it before it fell to the ground.  She hunched over and picked up the pencil.

Claire motioned for Sophie to follow her over to the desk.  Sophie walked over being careful not to topple over the strangely balanced easels.

Claire scooted over to make room for Sophie on the small chair.  It was enough room for both of them but, it still felt squished.

“Ok,” said Claire, sounding like a teacher about to start a lecture.  “There are different types of art.  There is Modern Art, 19th Century Art, Renaissance Art, Abstract Art, Pop Art, Surrealism, and my personal favorite, Impressionism.”  Sophie nodded curtly, trying to take all of that information in.  “There are a lot more art styles but those are the main ones.  There is a specific art that no one happens to think about though, Color Fields-”

“What’s a Color Field?” asked Sophie, interrupting Claire.

“I was just getting to that, thank you,” said Claire using her sarcastic talents yet again.

Sophie murmured something Claire couldn’t hear and it was probably a rude complaint.  Claire didn’t care that much, so she continued,” A color field is a painting with different shapes smeared into the canvas.  So, we’ll start with something simple.  Uh, for the beginner.”

Sophie shot Claire a glare.

Claire reached into another drawer in the desk and pulled out a box of crayons.  She set it in-between Sophie and herself.

“So should we start?” Sophie asked, with a nervous hint in her voice, like when she asked it she would get punished.

“Sure.”

Sophie opened the box of crayons and pulled out a pepper colored crayon.  She also pulled a piece of white paper towards her.  She looked a little on edge when she started and throughout her coloring she felt more relaxed.  The soft patter of the rain and the darkened room helped her feel calm. 

Claire started a few seconds after Sophie and was grateful for the rain to drown out the silence.  She felt bad that she snapped at Sophie earlier and was glad when Sophie got a little less tensed up.  They drew in silence for about ten minutes and then Sophie finally spoke.

“Is this good enough?” she asked nervously, again, holding up her painting.

Claire looked up from her own art and her eyes widened. The painting was beautiful.  The dark reds, oranges, and yellows drew her in.  The painting really expressed emotion and made her feel happy but it also made her feel the slightest tinge of anger. 

“Um… Hello?  Earth to Claire,” Sophie said putting her hand in front of Claire’s eyes making it go back and forth.  Claire was jolted back to reality, leaving her “Artland”.  It suddenly occurred to her that she blanked out.

“Wow, that is so amazing!  It’s almost as good as Mark Rothko,” Claire complimented and nudged Sophie in the arm gently.

Sophie beamed.  “Thanks.  Um, who is he?”

They both laughed for a while and then suddenly, Claire realized she was on a mission to help Sophie find her hobby.

“The last type of art we’re going to try is Impressionism.  You are probably going to be really good at it.  You might even be the one to make the next ‘Starry Night’ or ‘The Poppy Field’.  I’ll grab the oil paints and you can choose a canvas and take it to an easel.”

Sophie nodded, scooted off the chair, and picked up a canvas.  Once she pulled it up her arm dropped down. 

“Goodness!  This canvas was heavier than I thought!” Sophie exclaimed.  This time, she heaved it up with both hands carrying it carefully to an easel.  She set it right on top.  By the time she got it hooked on firmly Claire had reached into a cabinet under her night-stand, pulling out her oil paints.

“How can we mix paints?” asked Sophie, wondering about how she would make her masterpiece.

“We probably can’t,” objected Claire.

“Do you have old jar lids?”

“Yeah.  I think we do.  I’ll go get some,” she said bolting out of the room.

When Claire left, Sophie walked quietly over to the window.  She looked out at the blank sky.  It looked like a dark sea of watercolors.  She quietly wished she could swim in it touching the clouds.  I wonder if clouds feel like cotton candy, thought Sophie touching the window.  

“I’m back!!!” Claire bellowed, making a loud entrance and kicking the door open.  Sophie nearly had a heart attack as she was jolted out of dreamland.

Sophie strode back to the canvas she selected. 

“I got some paint brushes too,” Claire said, slightly more quiet this time.

She handed Sophie some lids and a paintbrush, then went back to her easel.

After a few seconds of settling their supplies, they started.  

Again, the room was in silence and this time, after thirty minutes, they were done.  Or at  least Sophie was.

“Check out this Claire Bear!”

Claire brought out her fury.  “Don’t you ever, ever, EVER call me that!!!”

“Sorry forgot but, do you like it?”

Claire again was lost in a trance like state.  She dropped her paintbrush smearing sapphire blue paint all over the carpet.  She tilted her head focusing on the painting. The mountains looked hard against the soft peach colored horizon.  The grass was perfectly emerald green.  

“CLAIRE!!!” Sophie screeched.

“...”

“Claire!” she said a little less loudly.  “You blanked out again.  I called your name ten stinking times!”

“Well it’s good,” said Claire sheepishly.  She had a secret of her own but she didn’t want to share it.  It included a few self doubts…

“Thanks-” she said.  But, what she was about to say was drowned out by a short knock on the front door.  The girls ran from the room and craned their heads around the corner.

“Oh, hi Mrs. Scalene,” said Claire’s annoying little brother as he answered the door.  “Yeah, Sophie will be right out.”

Sophie dashed around the corner and went into Claire’s room.  She picked up her artwork and went into the kitchen.  In the kitchen she slung her backpack onto her shoulder and walked to the front door.  

“Sophie!” Mrs. Scalene exclaimed.  “We were worried about you!  It’s dinner time and we figured you went over to Claire’s.”

“I’m fine.  Claire helped me paint these and helped me find a hobby I really love!”

“That’s great!  Well, thanks for having her Claire.”

“Yeah no problem,” said Claire smiling.  It wasn’t the sincerest smile though, because she was hiding something…

At dinner Claire was not feeling her confident self.  She didn’t want to eat her steak even though it was her favorite meal.  So she ate her food trying not to gag (In a family of ten kids though, they would know something was wrong so she had to).  At dessert, she was barely even able to eat her ice cream!

After dinner, she ran into her room faster than a cheetah and got ready for bed.

Right when she was about to turn off her lights, her mom slipped into the room.

“Claire!” she said forcefully.

Claire turned on her heels.  She had hoped that her mom wouldn’t catch her.

“Do you expect me to think that there is nothing wrong?  Something is clearly wrong.  You hardly touched your steak and ice cream.  Plus, you usually stay up till 8:30.  Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Claire knew she couldn’t object so she tried to explain (key word).

“It’s about Sophie-“

Claire’s mom cut her off before she could finish.  “Claire, it’s fine.  You can tell me what’s going on.”

I was trying! she thought, but she pushed it away.

“We’re not in a fight or anything.  It’s just…”. Claire sighed looking out into the dark evening.  “I don’t feel like I’m good at art anymore.”  It was hard for her to admit so she put her face in her hands.  “Sophie just started and she’s better than me.  I know I should be happy for her.  I just-“  Her voice trailed off.

“I understand Claire,” her mom said comfortingly.  “Everyone goes through this wondering if they are good enough.  Sophie is your friend and you are both amazing artists.  You can do amazing things you just have to believe you can and that you are good enough.  And as long as you love art and that’s what you want to do then you are amazing.”  She wrapped both arms around her and hugged her tight.  “You are my favorite artist,” she whispered in her ear.

Claire looked up,” Even better than Van Gogh?”

Her mom laughed,” Even better than Van Gogh.”

“I love you mom.”

“I love you too Claire.” And she left her in the dark room to think.

The next day at school Claire tried to find Sophie before the bell rang.

“Sophie!” she called over the chatter.

Sophie ran over.  “Claire!  I was looking all over for you!”

“I was too.  Sophie you are the greatest friend I could ask for and you are the most amazing artist.  I’m glad we’re friends.”

Sophie hugged Claire.  “And you are the best artist and friend.”

Yes, yes, yes!!! Claire secretly thought and they stood in the hall hugging.

“Guess what Claire!”  Before Claire could, Sophie excitedly said that she joined Art Class!  Now she wouldn’t have to be alone.

When they got in to Art Class Mrs. Taylor said,” For your assignment today, convince a friend to join art!”

Claire smiled to herself.  Who should my next target be?