Painting Versus Making Jewelry

This semester I signed up for an acrylic painting class at the Y. It was the first painting class I've taken since junior high -- and the reason why I haven't written much about it is because, frankly, I didn't really like it.

I'm trying to figure out exactly WHY I didn't care for it. Earlier in the year, I participated in a Paint-Along New York class and had a blast. Plus, the teacher at the Y was great. He was interesting, caring and encouraging, all of the things you'd want from an instructor. He never had a bad word to say to anybody, even if his or her work sucked. Some of my paintings were pretty awful, but he always found something to admire.

Still, the class itself was pretty dull. For one thing, we were all confined in our own little spaces behind our easels and tables, so no one really socialized. Yes, I get that we were there to learn, but one of the things I love about my jewelry classes is that we work AND talk. We're all incredibly busy, but have had some fascinating conversations as we make our pieces. Painting felt a lot more lonely.

I was also turned off by the cost of the class. This was a short session, only six weeks, and it was listed as a beginner class. However, we were encouraged to buy professional level supplies -- which ended up costing more than the class! I refused to buy 20 different colors of paints because I wanted to see if this was something I intended to continue. Instead, I purchased red, blue, yellow and white paint and simply mixed the colors as needed. We were also told to purchase all kinds of brushes, canvases and top coats, none of which I ever used. We were even instructed to get expensive "painting towels," when a plain, old paper towel worked just fine. I ended up using the specialty cloth towels to clean our fridge! I'm all for having professional supplies ... if you intend to pursue something at an advanced level. I own a set of enamels and enameling tools because I've been doing the craft for years. However, I didn't buy these supplies until I knew I needed them. I now have all of these painting tools, which I'll have to return or sell. I wish our teacher had started us off with the basics.

Last week my teacher was ill so we had a sub. She was really sweet, but sooooo anal. She made me line up my paint tubes and brushes in the exact way she does and kept moving and organizing all of my stuff. For the record, I am NOT unorganized. I just don't have everything lined up in military rows. She drove me crazy and I almost walked out in the middle of class. It took a lot to keep my calm when she kept grabbing my things.

I think it was the seriousness of the class that got to me the most. I take my jewelry making classes seriously, but I don't want to be a painter. I simply wanted to take a FUN class and maybe learn something as I did so. However, my teacher treated this as if it were a college course and went into detail over every line and brush stroke. The information he shared is very important if you want to truly learn painting -- but I was obviously in the wrong type of class for my needs. I was looking for a light-hearted class where I could blow off some steam; this just wasn't it.

Now that I have all of these half-used supplies, I might try painting on my own. I'll definitely take another Paint-Along class. I still think it can be a lot of fun; I just have to find the right type of class.

Meantime, check out my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewellery at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations. And check out LOVE NOTES, the music romance anthology which includes my book, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Another Kind Of Art: From Jewelry Making To Painting

I've always loved looking at and creating art, but I've never done much painting. When I was a kid, I'd draw for hours or would make things out of construction paper and clay... but I just wasn't into painting. I'm not sure why; perhaps because I was afraid of making a mess? It was easy to pick up magic markers or bits of dried clay, but I feared what would be said if I accidentally got paint on the walls.

I took an art class in junior high but after that, stopped doing anything "crafty" for a long time. Instead, I put all of my energy into music and writing -- and that's the way it was, really, until about four years ago when I jumped onto the jewelry making train.

A few times I've gone to places like Make Meaning in New York City where you can paint a ceramic bowl. I've always enjoyed this, though the paints aren't very high quality.

These days, I do enameling which in some ways is similar to painting. You use a brush to apply the colors to a canvas of sorts and you arrange everything to create a design or picture. Still, while there are some similarities, it's not quite the same. With enameling, you have to be very precise and can't really mix colors. You can layer them, but you can't experiment with hues like you can with paint.

Well, last night I got to try my hand at painting once again at Paint Along New York -- and I absolutely loved it!

Each PANY features a different painting which students copy and interpret. The painting we did is called "She Creates" and was made with acrylics. Here is my version of it:

The instructor lead us through some basics, such as how to do the outline of the woman's face and how to apply the colors. I usually draw profiles from the forehead down so it felt a little weird for me to do it her way, which was from the neck up. Still, I followed along because I wanted my painting to be good enough so that I wouldn't embarrass myself.

The great thing about this particular picture is that we were given a lot of freedom when it came to doing the colorful "leaves" that surround the woman. Our instructor encouraged us to experiment with color combinations or to even stick with just blues and greens, or reds and yellows. She also suggested we play around with brush strokes. I wanted mine to be very colorful so I used the entire palette -- and because I have to use such tiny, precise strokes in enameling, I whipped that brush right across the canvas!

Oddly enough, I had the most difficult time doing the lips. I like the color, but it took me a long time to adjust them so they weren't too thick or too thin. Pouty lips are beautiful, but I didn't want hers to be so pouty that she'd look as if she'd been punched in the mouth. I'm not 100 percent thrilled with them, but they'll have to do.

What was really nice was that the instructor admired my brush strokes and asked if I'm an artist! I explained that I do enameling. I don't know if she was just saying this to be kind, but I'm still glowing from the compliment.

The best part was seeing everyone's work at the end of class. Though we'd all done the same painting and our ladies looked somewhat alike, there were differences in each student's version. Some used smaller strokes to make the leaves. Some gave her a thinner face. Some had women who looked more realistic, while others had figures that were abstract.

I'd definitely like to take another class at PANY and am even thinking about trying my hand at some original paintings. These wouldn't be something I'd sell; they'd simply be done for fun. Most of the creative things I do are for profit and I need to make some things that are just for me.

So if you're ever in Manhattan and need a little break, sign up for a class at PANY. Meanwhile, check out my handmade wire wrapped and enamel jewelry at Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations.