The Painting Class

For years, my colleague Sarah talked about wanting to learn to paint. She admired art in galleries and bought prints for her flat, but she had never picked up a brush herself. — choose for gap 1 —1. She stopped comparing her work to other people's and started trusting her own ideas2. She told me she had always been afraid of trying because she thought she would be terrible…3. He welcomed us warmly and told us that no experience was necessary4. Marco was disappointed with the progress of the class5. She even sold one of her paintings to a friend for fifty pounds6. The café below the studio closed down halfway through the course7. Sarah decided that painting was too difficult and dropped out after the third session8. She said she didn't know where to start and that she was going to ruin it So, for her fortieth birthday, I signed us both up for a beginner's painting class. The class met every Wednesday evening in a bright studio above a café. Our teacher, Marco, was a professional artist who believed that anyone could learn to paint. — choose for gap 2 —1. She stopped comparing her work to other people's and started trusting her own ideas2. She told me she had always been afraid of trying because she thought she would be terrible…3. He welcomed us warmly and told us that no experience was necessary4. Marco was disappointed with the progress of the class5. She even sold one of her paintings to a friend for fifty pounds6. The café below the studio closed down halfway through the course7. Sarah decided that painting was too difficult and dropped out after the third session8. She said she didn't know where to start and that she was going to ruin it He said the most important thing was to enjoy the process and not worry about the result. In the first session, Marco asked us to paint a simple bowl of fruit. Sarah looked at the blank canvas and panicked. — choose for gap 3 —1. She stopped comparing her work to other people's and started trusting her own ideas2. She told me she had always been afraid of trying because she thought she would be terrible…3. He welcomed us warmly and told us that no experience was necessary4. Marco was disappointed with the progress of the class5. She even sold one of her paintings to a friend for fifty pounds6. The café below the studio closed down halfway through the course7. Sarah decided that painting was too difficult and dropped out after the third session8. She said she didn't know where to start and that she was going to ruin it Marco walked over, gently took the brush from her hand, and showed her how to mix colours on the palette. Within minutes, she had made her first marks on the canvas. Over the following weeks, Sarah's confidence grew rapidly. — choose for gap 4 —1. She stopped comparing her work to other people's and started trusting her own ideas2. She told me she had always been afraid of trying because she thought she would be terrible…3. He welcomed us warmly and told us that no experience was necessary4. Marco was disappointed with the progress of the class5. She even sold one of her paintings to a friend for fifty pounds6. The café below the studio closed down halfway through the course7. Sarah decided that painting was too difficult and dropped out after the third session8. She said she didn't know where to start and that she was going to ruin it She experimented with different colours and styles, and her work became more and more interesting. By the end of the course, she had completed six paintings, and Marco said two of them were good enough to exhibit. The experience changed Sarah in ways neither of us expected. She has now signed up for an advanced course and has started painting at home every weekend. — choose for gap 5 —1. She stopped comparing her work to other people's and started trusting her own ideas2. She told me she had always been afraid of trying because she thought she would be terrible…3. He welcomed us warmly and told us that no experience was necessary4. Marco was disappointed with the progress of the class5. She even sold one of her paintings to a friend for fifty pounds6. The café below the studio closed down halfway through the course7. Sarah decided that painting was too difficult and dropped out after the third session8. She said she didn't know where to start and that she was going to ruin it She tells everyone that the best birthday present she ever received was the one that showed her something she didn't know about herself.