About me – I consider myself a late in life artist. I loved to doodle and draw when I was younger but never pursued it. The first time I really picked up a paint brush was about 9 years ago when I was invited to a ladies group at my friend’s church. Each month we dove into a new painting and learned several new skills as well. I enjoyed it so much that I started to take some on-line art classes and just kept painting. I found that I really enjoy mixed media art and abstract painting, but I also enjoy teaching art to others.
Why did Art on the Alley start – Art on the Alley grew out a desire to share art with others. When children aged out of the daycare I ran from my home, I wanted to keep the connection with the families.
How did Art on the Alley start – In talking to the parents of those children that had aged out, they were excited when I offered to start an Art Class. I posted an invite on Facebook about the Art Classes, and away it went. The students invited there family and friends and it continues today, about 4 years later.
History of our classes – When I started Art on the Alley classes, there was really no set pattern as to what painting we would do. I found something that I wanted to share with the students and we painted it.
Eventually I started to line up the months with the seasons and do a painting that corresponded with it. After a little while of that I started to choose the paintings randomly and so now it is a mixture of both. Occasionally I will ask the students if they want a particular theme for the following month as well.