Art Instructor Me!

Last month I began teaching a monthly art class to the moms in my homeschool co-op. One of the co-op directors had the idea to have a monthly craft party, at night, NO CHILDREN.

As you can imagine, we moms that homeschool don't get a whole lot of NO CHILDREN time. (Other than soccer, scouts, Awana, basketball, art classes, and all of the other socializing opportunities we have time to participate in.)

But these craft parties were intended to give us busy, stressed out moms a chance to visit together and do something fun, without the stress of many small hands pulling on our pant legs.

I offered to teach a painting class and they went so well we have done two painting parties so far.

This was our first group painting. It took us almost 4 hours to complete it. Oops. I think I picked a too time-intensive painting. But the moms got many complements from family and friends and I think overall they were happy with the time spent with NO CHILDREN.

There is a class offered through the Frame Shop on base called iCanvas. It is offered once per month with only 12 participants allowed. The charge is $25 and that includes use of brushes, paints, art instruction, and a 16" x 20" painting you get to keep when you go home.

The classes always fill up, and since I have a community center I can rent for free, I decided to offer similar classes. I will only charge $20 per person. That covers all costs plus a modest instructor fee.

My first non-co-op class is next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

This was our second craft party painting. I promised the girls a flower, and somehow I came up with this busy piece of art.

The moms/friends/teachers/awesome-women did a FANTASTIC job on this painting. It only took 3 hours and even though the paints I bought at Wal-Mart tried to take away our spirit, we ended up with 10 masterpieces.

Did I mention we bring snacks, wine, and listen to groovy music while we paint? It's wonderful.

Although, I have had a few requests to make the next painting easier. "We're not that good," they keep telling me.

I've seen their work and yes, yes they are that good. But I understand that when you are not an artist it can be stressful to paint something too difficult, so next time I'll pick something faster.

Please excuse the glare, but this is a painting I taught for a high school co-op art class. We only had 45 minutes, though we pushed it up to an hour, and the kids did a great job. They got to choose the color scheme of the flowers and the stems. I was told there were only girls in the class so when a young man arrived I thought he might balk at having to paint flowers.

He took it in stride and painted blue flowers.

Teaching a painting class is something I have enjoyed. It's a fun way to visit with friends, make something special, and have a change from the norm.

And it's a beautiful excuse to drink wine.