I will admit right off the bat I have long been a fan of Bob Ross. Very quietly a fan, because being a Bob Ross fan wasn’t always cool. But I always liked his TV show.
For those who might not be familiar with Bob Ross, for many years he hosted a TV show called the Joy of Painting, which ran on P.B.S. and C.B.C for many years. It was a very relaxing show, even if you weren’t actually into painting. Bob’s voice and his approach to things was enough to melt away any stress you might have had in your life.
Ross spent twenty years in the United States Air Force, many as a master sergeant, a job that required him to raise his voice on a regular basis. He eventually decided that really wasn’t him, and he wanted to do something where he never again had to raise his voice. While in the military, he took up painting as a hobby. Before long, the income from his art was earning him more than his military salary.
There’s a lot more to his story, but his trademark fluffy hair and relaxed manor endeared him to people. And his quick painting technique could turn almost everyone into an artist. And his “happy little trees” and “happy little clouds” couldn’t help but make you smile.
Except me. I’m not really much good at art. Maybe I should have paid more attention to his TV shows. Or maybe I should have taken lessons.
My cousin, who also spent many years in the Canadian military and then went on to a long career in law enforcement, was a certified Bob Ross method instructor. He was always a lot more gregarious than Bob Ross, so I could never quite get my head around him teaching that method of painting, but he really enjoyed it. And although I never took a lesson from him, I imagine his happy little trees were a bit louder than Bob.
But what got me thinking about Bob Ross is the fact that one of his paintings is going up for auction. It is a bit of a special Bob Ross painting, since it was done for his very first TV show. It’s called A Walk In The Woods, and it’s the usual Bob Ross landscape, loaded with happy little trees. Although there don’t seem to be a lot of happy little clouds in it. But they expect it to sell for over $10,000,000.
Over his career Bob Ross did about four hundred paintings for his TV shows. I’m not sure what he’d think of the price they expect this one to get at auction. But I now have an idea why those little trees are happy.