Why not take a class?

Why not take a class? May 2008


No matter how confident an artist you may have become, there is always something to be gained when taking an art class and painting with others. Even when I took a class from a teacher who irritated me a times, being in a class has helped me to better articulate my own perspective.

Taking a class gives me foremost a framework. I seem to manage my time more efficiently when I have a definite schedule and deadlines. Without such a structure I get too easily distracted. I’ll end up procrastinating and putting the creative process on hold while the domesticity of daily life all too quickly fills my spaces.

Painting with others provides me with a supportive environment. It is usually an enjoyable and informative experience provided you can ignore the occasional obnoxious self-centered student who loves to monopolize the teacher’s attention and give you unsolicited advice. I have always learned something; if not from an enthusiastic teacher than certainly from other fellow painters who like me struggle with the process of creating art. Becoming a regular member of a group can be quite rewarding. Beyond the obvious camaraderie, inherent to most such groups an “esprit de corps” develops over time. This feeling of belonging and experience of inclusion is to me an important component of knowing my place; I feel validated and connected in an artist community however small it may be.

At times I have enrolled in more than one class. The more accelerated pace has energized me resulting in heightened creativity. I find myself so busily involved that any censorship or resistance fades and I just go with the flow. Other times I have taken classes that are not my main interest, such as life drawing; these classes have greatly sharpen my skills which I could then incorporate into my paintings. Unlike some, I do believe that one art form enhances another, and taking different media has never been a source of confusion for me.

Workshops, whether short and intensive or involving a longer stay, are particularly great for concentrating on your art. Set in a different environment, away from the daily comfort and traps of your routine, you are more likely to awaken to refreshingly new sensations. You might experience seeing things for the first time again. To further maximize your experience, I recommend that you do not come with a spouse or partner even if you are both artists. Doing so to me would somehow defeat the purpose of participating in an art workshop. Rather than a true retreat it would be reduced to a mere theme vacation.

Ideally I look for teachers whose guidance, honest critique, encouraging support, tolerance and sense of humor engage me as well as others.

Yvette Stenzel