Blast from the past: TV painter Bob Ross

Bob Ross, a loveable hippie-type, with a fuzzy perm and denim shirts and jeans, painted imagined rural landscapes in his 1980s TV series, The Joy of Painting.

In a soft, intimate voice that made the viewer feel as it were a personal one-to-one painting lesson, Ross would talk through his artistic techniques.

In fact, the show is finding a fresh audience today through online streaming, providing balm to the souls of a new generation of anxious viewers.

Watching Bob Ross paint a fir tree or a snow-capped mountain is mesmeric. There are no alarms and no surprises – in fact, the closest thing to tension is when you think he’s finished a painting, but then decides to add a bird, or a bit more green to an already perfect-looking tree.

You forget your worries as his gentle, whispery voice takes you to a serene place, a place where “there are no mistakes, only happy accidents”.

Bob’s unique placidity works it’s magic on high cortisol levels, and as he paints “happy little bushes” or “happy little rocks”, our cares melt away.