Sharing the Joy

Every year I teach a fall and a spring class at the local Senior Center. I ask them to commit to four sessions because I really don't want people who expect a paint by numbers class. I enjoy teaching retired folks who have a genuine interest in learning the craft.

When you retire you should try all the things you wanted to do when you were working but didn't make time for. Notice I didn't say "have"time for. That's because I believe if you really want something you will make time for it. The time may only be available if we're willing to give up another activity. I stopped watching television in order to have time to paint. I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything. When I play Trivial Pursuit I don't so well in the Entertainment category, but that's OK.

In our  four two-hour sessions at the Senior Center we don't have time to learn much more than the basics, but you can do a lot if you have just a little knowledge about painting. We cover value, color, proportion, line and color mixing. Some of the students have paints at home and they work on projects between sessions. Those are the people who do some good work.

One of the most important aspects of the class is mutual encouragement. We all paint a little differently and there is no right or wrong way because marks and style are very personal. The truly wonderful thing about this group is they all make a point of building one another up.

They prefer to paint landscapes, and those kind of subjects are more forgiving for beginners. Here are a couple of the paintings we did from the last two weeks.