I started researching art teachers in Montreal and had come across the website of an artist by the name of Melanie Mathews. I was very excited with what I was reading on her website about workshops but unfortunately I had a hard time getting in touch with her (cyber demons ate my email).
One event lead to another; the winter progressed the way winters do and just as the spring was starting here in Montreal, I decided it was a good idea to go to Calgary to participate in a group art cabaret at the city art gallery. After I got back from my trip, I decided at the last minute to see what classes still had space at the Visual Arts Centre.
I had narrowed my list down to two classes; one that specialized in the night-time scenery. The other was a class by Melanie Mathews.The night scenery class was canceled, so that left only one choice. I was very hesitant at first about taking Melanie's class only because I am not a morning person and the class was to begin at an ungodly hour; 9am!! Ouch! Who ever heard of starting a class at 9am? (ok, yes yes I am being slightly sarcastic)
Well, needless to say I had a few mornings of sleep-retardation, but asides from that, the class was completely worth it. I didn't realize before hand that the class was really just taking further an experimentation I had already begun on my own; working with textures and mixed mediums in art.
One of my favorite aspects of this class is that I have discovered how to make skins & transfers! Not to mention the exciting opportunity of trying out the many mediums that Melanie made available to us.
Melanie turned out to be a highly talented, intelligent, witty and informed teacher. She offered great observations and nudged us in the right directions in our classroom explorations. One of the aspects that made the class so interesting is that the students came from many walks of life, all ages, both professional and non-professional artists (and almost entirely all women, we had one token male). I have not taken an art class since high school, and those teachers combined with teenage angst, had left a bad taste in my mouth. So I really didn't expect to discover how much I really loved being surrounded by other artists busy at work on their creations. It's a really nice feeling and is very motivating with my own works.
I have attached photos of the 3 out of 4 paintings I finished in class (the 4th one I took home and started doing more work on it). I have all three of these paintings for sale on my etsy shop.
