ARTIST Patty Bover used to think she was bad at art.
That was until 13 years ago, when she signed up for a course teaching a style of portraiture called “whimsical faces”.
Only then did Bover realise that art is whatever the artist says it is.
“All I had to do was to let go of control and my ideas of how a face should look,” she said.
“I soon discovered mixed media and collage, and the whole world opened up.
“I was creating art that I loved. Not everyone loved it or ‘got it’, but my people-pleasing self did not care.”
Bover let the faces she was drawing or painting direct her – “I found that the faces told me what they wanted” – and the experience led to realisations that had utility outside of the studio.
“That feeling of enjoying things that others didn’t understand spread into other areas of my life,” she said, “and helped me become more accepting of my quirky self.”
Bover would like to give others the opportunity to make the same discovery at her Whimsical Faces mixed media workshop this Saturday at the Broken Hill Art Exchange.
No artistic merit is required, just a free mind, an absence of judgment and the willingness to put you best – or worst – face forward.
Entry is $15, open to all ages and runs from 1pm to 3pm.
