Renoir Changed My Life

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Many of you probably don’t know that I used to be a potter. I was having a great time working on my pottery wheel, mixing my own glazes, creating my own designs... I was probably having too much fun because one day my thumb started jumping out of joint…even when I was asleep! 

I can only chalk it up to mega-repetitive injury. Yeah, I’m kind of obsessive-compulsive.  

Many trips to doctors, countless injections and it still wasn’t getting better. Talk about depression! I felt my life was over and it hadn’t even begun. What was I going to do with all this creativity that needed to be expressed?

This is where Pierre Auguste Renoir comes in. I had always loved Renoir’s work. I found it beautiful, comforting, soft and romantic. I must have picked up a book or read an article, maybe it was a post on the internet, where doesn’t matter. What did matter was it changed my life!

Renoir suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and was quite crippled in his later years. It was hard for him to sit to paint and impossible to hold a brush. 

But his creativity had to be expressed.... so he hired someone to tie a brush in his hand. Reading this flung open a door I thought had been locked and the key thrown into the abyss. I told you I was really depressed. 

I began oil painting the summer of my 12th year and continued all through high school. But life happens, focus changes, I got married, had a daughter and painting took a back seat. 

When I read of Renoir’s courage and determination, I was reminded of my love of painting...I could hold brush without excessive stress on my thumb and, if I need be, I could also have a brush tied in MY hand! 

I owe my artistic progression to many people but most of all to Pierre Auguste Renoir.