Never in a million years...

... would I have thought my paintings would be displayed in an art gallery in New York City.

That all changed this week.

For several months, I've been studying the art of watercolor technique under Frederick Brosen at the Art Students League of New York. During that time, I've created some paintings that just didn't work, but some that did.

I submitted the ones that I thought worked for a week-long art show at the school, and nervously waited to see what my peers and professor thought of them. After asking me some questions about my first painting - which I made sure they knew was my very first one, because I pretty much learned several techniques by trying them out in the painting - everyone agreed that all three that I submitted should be in the show (including the first one because it taught me how to apply the techniques for the other two, which I'm pretty proud of).

I beamed for a week straight.

But let me tell you, waiting for the gallery opening was the longest week ever! But it finally came, and I took a few friends to the wine and cheese art gallery opening. In the photo, my first painting is the one on the bottom of the island, which I drew and painted from a photograph I took while Brent and I were on vacation at Lake Tahoe. I drew and painted the sunflower for my mom to give to her on Mother's Day. Then there's the one I'm most proud of, even though it's relatively simple. It's the one on the bottom left in the photo - of the leaf on a still pond of water in Central Park. What I love about it is not only its simplicity and beauty, but I love how the gorgeous fall leaf stands out.

Though I'm still very much a beginner, I really poured my heart into these paintings. I mean, before I created them, all they were were just blank pieces of paper. Once I started working on them, they became pieces of paper with pencil marks on them representing the creations I saw in my head (or on a photograph that I took). Then, they became pieces of paper with specially-mixed color on them that I invented to get the perfect shades I wanted.

And then they became paintings. They became art. MY art.

Nothing made me prouder than to see people looking at what I created (even though this is a photo of my friends Rigo and Amanda, who went with me to the art gallery opening, other people did look at my paintings!)

The icing on the cake was when I took my friend Janine down to the gallery on our way to a football game to show her my work. After just looking at the paintings for awhile, she turned to me and said incredulously, "Erika, your paintings are on display in a gallery in New York City!"

Though it's definitely not something I'm good enough at to make a living, it's definitely become one of my favorite hobbies!