Vita Art Center-Blog

I’ve been teaching a  Mixed Media Painting class for the last 5 years and I find an interesting thing happening lately…whether the student is a novice art maker or an experienced art maker of any sort, I think they come to get a dose of an attitude I share…it’s “try anything and everything.” Sometimes it’s hard to give yourself permission to go outside of what you know and what you’ve grown accustomed to as your own personal style. You may be inspired by other work you see and you may wonder how the artist did that. Maybe you’ve learned to draw but you haven’t yet picked up a paint brush…it’s scary! You’ve painted in Watercolor but you haven’t tried Acrylics or Oils. What is a Monotype? a Monoprint? Encaustics? The idea of getting to a place in your work that you’re feeling confident about but wanting to try new things, can be a little daunting at first, but just remember this wonderful quote from Jasper Johns “It’s simple, you just take something and do something to it, and then do something else to it. Keep doing this, and pretty soon you’ve got something.”  That’s what I call “process” and that’s how I work and how I like to teach my class. I have had painters and printmakers in my class who have wanted to learn Mixed Media techniques and I have had Mixed Media students who want to learn to paint. It’s all one and the same if you consider each artistic medium as another tool in your tool box. And with all those tools in your arsenal…well, just think of the possibilities that abound! As one of my Vita students recently told me ” I had such a fun day! I’ll take your workshops any time. I think you are really getting me over my art phobia! More than any other teacher, I think you get it, ART should be fun. Too make of us take it far too seriously.” Ginny

Amy Schneider - Mixed Media Painting

Class  Schedule:

Sat. June 6, 1-5 or Sun. June 28, 10 - 4 or Sat. July 25, 10-4.