February 5, 2021

Sharing an inner talent is with the people around you is one of the greatest feelings in the world. And it turns out that we have some real painters in our midst too. We recently had the pleasure of gathering our painting supplies for a virtual lesson in painting! Guided by our on-screen teacher, we each created a beautiful northern lights painting.

The Northern Lights Painting Process

First, our teacher taught us the technique of blending. Armed with this information and a blank canvas, we added yellows and blues, building a natural looking background for our northern lights paintings. With a few swishes of black paint, dark pine trees appeared — each artist's canvas taking on a unique life of its own.  

Of course, we had our frustrations and questions too. Especially with the forestry... "These don’t look like pine trees!" “Who knew pine trees could be so difficult to paint?” "Do I swish up or down for the branches?” But the small challenges of the task and the good-natured banter around it helped to keep our class lighthearted and fun. With several flicks of the brush, we put the final touches on our northern lights paintings: innumerable white stars above the horizon line.

As we added elements and blended colors, it was as if by magic that the northern lights eventually seemed to just appear on our canvases!

This painting class was so much fun that we're making plans to add this to our monthly calendar! Experienced, inexperienced, or just looking for a laugh and curious about the possibilities... painting classes are an awesome activity for anyone and everyone. Several of our elders even discovered a hidden talent with the paintbrush... enough so that they proudly display their northern lights paintings today for all to see.

Interested in other fun things to do for elders? Check out our Our Top Six Senior Activities.