Current Class Schedule My philosophy as a teacher of Decorative Painting is that anyone can learn to paint, and have a good time doing it. Everyone needs a creative outlet of some kind in their life, and it's such a thrill for me, as a teacher, to watch a beginning student blossom. In my classes I stress patience, fun, and acceptance, with a strong emphasis on traditional decorative painting techniques. These past two years have seen many changes in my life, and for those of you who have been waiting for classes to be offered again, I thank you for your patience! I have returned to the full-time accounting work force and it's only recently I've had the energy to organize a class again. Unfortunately, I will not be offering them again as often as I used to, so if you've always wanted to try this, but never took the time, you might not want to hold off much longer! Classes are taught in the following locations: Old Mill Studio (OMS) Whitefield NH, 03589 Phone: (603)837-8778 Call studio, or drop in to register for classes. Projects on display. St. Kieran's Cultural Center for the Arts Berlin, NH 03570 Contact me at (603)788-5568 for information and registration. Women's Rural Entreprenurial Network (WREN) Bethlehem, NH 03574 Phone: (603)869-9736 Click here to see the basic supplies needed Tin Watering Can A Della Watterman design Location: OMS Wednesdays, May 24th through June 14th, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Class fee: $50. Plus Materials fee of $25 for a total of $75. This 13" tin watering can is painted in a very traditional decorative painting motif. Della Watterman was greatly influenced by her teacher, and friend, the late Joan Howard. This design features a crow sitting on a cherry branch and is a great introduction to the basics of tole painting. You will learn float loading, some stroke work, and optional antiquing. Another plus...the background color can be changed. So if you prefer something besides Barn Red for your home, please give me a call and we can talk. I will bring some other basic colors with me. There are only six surfaces available. Please register quickly!   Basic Supplies needed: Dark Grey and/or white transfer paper, tracing paper, paper towels, palette, water basin for cleaning out brushes, 1" disposable foam brushes, pencil, craft eraser. Some notes on the above: The transfer paper has been a problem for people to acquire in the past. Sometimes Wal-Mart will have it in their craft section. You can't use just regular graphite or carbon paper from an office supply store because it leaves a waxy residue. I will have some transfer paper available at 50cents a sheet and erasers for 75cents each. For a palette, I like to use a foam meat tray (that I've scrubbed well!) from the grocery store. Then I just throw it out at the end of class. Paper plates also work. They make fancy palette paper in disposable pads, or you could splurge on a Sta-Wet palette if you wanted. I've been painting for 15 years now, and I still use the foam trays - they work just fine. I usually have extras of everything with me, if you can't find something. Basic brushes needed for most of the projects will be:     #6 Flat Shader (#7300 La-Corneille by Loew Cornelle)     #2 or smaller liner (2 JS, #2 Jo Sonja liner by Loew Cornelle) A few words on brushes: The quality of your brush will make a difference in your painting. For decorative painting with acrylics, which is what we will be doing, a brush with Golden Taklon bristles works best. I prefer the following brands: Loew Cornelle - La Corneille series, or the Robert Simmons brushes. Loew Cornelle makes several grades of brush - the black handled La Corneille series are my preferred choice. They are the ones listed in parenthesis up above. If you already have some brushes at home, bring everything with you, and don't worry too much about having the correct size. A #8 shader, or a filbert or even a round, will work for base coating. You will need a shader for the float loading technique, but different sizes would work. For stippling, a deerfoot stippler will work, and so will an old ratty brush that is fairly stiff. For some projects, you could even use a small sea sponge. I will have some class supplies that could be used for this. Some of the stores carry a brand of brush by Plaid; they are the ones that Donna Dewberry uses. If you go with one of these, get the medium or small foliage scrubby brush, DO NOT get their deerfoot. I have tried it and it is terrible! Too stiff. Old paintbrushes from the kid's watercolor sets unfortunately won't work either! Sources for Painting Supplies: Art Works in Littleton is currently in the process of expanding their art supply inventory, and is interested in including decorative painting in their scope of interest. If you are interested in something, they can possibly order it for you, if they don't carry it. You can try Wal-Mart, I would suggest the Robert Simmons Brand in with the fine art supplies. There is a Michael's craft store by the Steeplegate Mall in Concord. There is also a wonderful store in Concord called Art Plus. It's behind Mattress Giant, diagonally across Route 9 from the Mall. They specialize in decorative painting and have many brushes, paints, surfaces and patterns. Some mail order suppliers I have had good luck with are Artist's Club, (800) 845-6507, www.ArtistsClub.com and HomeCraft Express, (800) 301-7377. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. Thanks!