The BLUE Peacock class!

You gotta love it when  groups of friends come to paint! We always say that "Friends should not let friends paint alone" and last night everyone took it to heart! A group of four came complete with wine, chocolate and popcorn and had a delightful time!
Another group of four were enjoying an evening in the Art Zone without the complications from the day to slip in and a pair of friends came to encourage each other to create!

The "Blue Peacock" is one on those paintings that can be taken to a very detailed level or a less detailed one. It is easy to just keep painting away and adding embellishments. And any artist can take the same image and paint it a dozen different ways and colors. Maybe a red, lavender, rainbow peacock....it's your painting!

ALL the results were stunning!

And unbeknownst to the painters, they all absorbed some valuable tips about blending, color harmony and details :-) We love to sneak the ART into HAVING FUN!

I think I'll bring popcorn next time.......

Painters of the "Blue Peacock"

Painting the Figure and getting past the fear

Although we are missing a few additional examples from this collage, the participants stepped up to the plate and in 2 hours painted their beautiful renditions in the "Gone Fishing" class! The figures on the dock were changed into what they envisioned as each artist made her (yep all women for this class!) painting into personal  masterpieces! Painting the figure from the back presents less challenges to the new painter of figures than trying to get a likeness from the front. It opens up a whole new range of options and paintings and many a famous painter from the past only included figures in their paintings from the back or small scale. It's a very good beginning!

Were they doubting artists beforehand? Sure. But they did it!

Speaking of doubts.......I had a phone call yesterday from a woman wanting to join our upcoming "Paint your Pet" class and she shared with me all her doubts and concerns about her artistic abilities. Seems her current instructor kept telling her she

wasn't ready to paint her dog, needed more instruction, etc, etc.

Seriously-why would anyone hold someone back in the realm of painting using that ridiculous statement? Why turn the creation of art into a mystery that can only be unlocked by the hallowed halls of professionals?

I am a professional and yet nothing brings a smile quicker to my face than to see a student of any age realize that "they can do it!"

Having said that-Taking just one class isn't enough to begin to master the art of painting. One class isn't enough to master ANY hobby! So get over your fear and jump in. If you are committed, you will know that a whole new world has opened up for you. We are there to help you and guide you but the dedication must come from you!

So join the many others who have discovered their "inner artist!"

Class schedule (remember August is SHOW times for us!) for August coming and Sept-full steam ahead!

http://www.artstudentacademy.com/Getting-Started-Dates-and-Times.html

Let go of the dock-start swimming!

The Two hour Blitz...

The Two Hour Blitz that we  refer to, is the two hours of the Art Zone where you are literally, "one with your art."

For many of our participants, it's a totally new concept and a totally new event. And it only becomes apparent at the end of class......and they all marvel at it!  Because for two hours, they were encompassed in a world of art. And while they were creating, they thought of nothing else-no worries..... nothing to distract them from "the Zone." A happy place. 

And that is a wonderful place to be!

Look at the results below and join us in our next class on Wed, July 18, 6:30-8:30 for a beautiful painting "Gone Fishing" http://artstudentacademy.com/Gone-Fishing.html

Painting the Hammock on the Beach!

Fun painting the Abstract Cow!

Come paint children at the Beach in watercolor!

It's tomorrow night, June 13 from 6:30-8:30!

http://artstudentacademy.com/Girls-on-Beach-Watercolor.html


Can you do this? YES!
BYOB and enjoy a fun filled two hours. No one else in the art and wine industry teaches like we do!

Watercolor Treat! BYOB class!

It's tonight from 6-8 pm. Watercolor class "Wine Bottle with Glass". 

Since I'll be teaching this, we're adding a different background from the one Steve painted (lol-he's out of town) Let's see, how about a Tuscany hillside? Grape vineyards?

Ah so many creative decisions......but that's the beauty of painting it yourself! Oh and feel free to BYOB!

Private Party exposed!

What did we expose at this private party??

 A GREAT time! :-) 

Steve and I joined so enjoyed teaching this group of friends and co-workers at our Wake Forest location!  We call them "Private Parties" but of course with co-workers they are a TEAM art party!

They painted individual paintings but a group can also test their organizational skills by having one final image in mind but needing all the individual pieces (paintings) to complete the final vision! A great one to hang on the wall of your office! (the concept is like a quilting bee except all the parts interact!)

 

So last night the ladies brought in their wines, their cheeses, assorted crackers, shrimp, brownies.....oh and then we started to paint! We reminded them that the key is to not dip your paintbrush into your wine glass so a few brought tall, easily identifiable wine glasses to avoid that small problem :-)

Final view!

 A Collage of the group view!

Contact us for YOUR team party! artevents@artstudentacademy.com

A few more terrific "Monet" painters!

Betty painted two in two hours!

 A few more photos from Saturday's class! They were up to the challenge as you can see by these images of their paintings!

Father and daughter have become regulars!

A great job from Rebecca!

Betty stayed for the second class!

Color!

After the grays and browns of winter, Spring and summer invoke feelings of needed color! And it is so easy when you pick up a paintbrush and let your colors flow!

2 special and colorful classes this Saturday can bring in the sunshine and colors!

Both will be in acrylics:

Join us from 10-12 for Colorful Macaws 




and 1:00-3:00 for Songbirds of the South!

Bluebird!

Colorful Macaws

The Irish CASTLE!

What an amazing job these ladies did in class today. Our 10-12 found us painting Ross Castle in Ireland. 

What did one of the students email to me?



"Hi Theresa!
We loved our time painting this past Saturday. The Irish castle was a hit! Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents with us. We all walked away more confident in our artistic abilities than when we walked into the studio. Here are some photos to enjoy!"  ~Stephanie

Ah, makes me feel warm and fuzzy when people achieve that "art" feeling!

For two solid hours and these beginners  were lost in the art zone :-). But their resulting paintings are spectacular!

Watercolor class March 14!

Steve just finished several great classes while Theresa taught a PanPastel workshop at the Appalachian Pastel Society in Asheville, NC. Pretty,but long mountain drive!

This Wed., March 14 we'll again bring out the watercolors and paint "Pears on a windowsill"Sign up here:
http://artstudentacademy.com/Sunlit-Fruit.html

6-8 pm. Yes you can BYOB!

Wild Ponies and Lighthouses

Wild Ponies of the Outer Banks

 These were a few of the happy participants
in our Saturday classes, "WIld Ponies of the Outer Banks" and "NC Lighthouses."

Wonderful job all

Next class Wed, Feb 22 6-8 Painting Cows!"

NC Lighthouses

The Class PHOTOS from Valentine Night!

A few of our Valentine Day evening participants!

More amazing, individual art!

A picture tells a thousand words and here you have results from just one class!

For many we also took their photos with their own phones (oh have times changed!) so if we did not get yours, email us and we'll send the individual images of you from this collage!

(email way below)

myclassphoto@artstudentacademy.com

Settling in with friends and painting!

 The crowd started arriving about 6:45 and the last painter left around 9:30! What a great night!

All ages, from all over the area and from all different backgrounds, they all came together on Valentine Evening to have fun and paint and sip wine!

Steve making the rounds and helping

Pat raised a toast to finishing a beautiful painting!

Now really, it doesn't get much better than this. 32 people, 32 different paintings (no paint along here!) and the creative juices were flowing!

We were proud of the men who, with dogged determination, produced some beautiful and vivid art!

They can be proud of what they accomplished!



Pat was one of the first arrivals and while her husband, who said that he had not painted anything since 1944, and relaxed on the couch to enjoy the group, Pat went right to it and created a beautiful Valentine Tree!

More images coming later with art results from the couples!

and the Valentine Tree fun continues....!

Painting the Valentine Tree on Feb 13

By Feb 13, we have enjoyed watching couples paint many versions of the Valentine Tree and every time we are amazed at the creativity and fun they generate while doing so!

Last night's class was large  and many took on the challenge of painting matching and intertwined trees!
 The results are beautiful!

 The historic,Twisted Vine wine shop, where the class was held, supplied a  sommelier for the group and they had the advantage of purchasing their choice of vintage wines by the glass (or bottle) 



Looking forward to tonight's final Valentine Tree class with 15 couples coming to enjoy a unique Valentine Day evening!

Results from THE VALENTINE TREE!

Our Saturday, 2/11, 3:30-5:30 pm class

Results from two of the five classes we had Friday night and Saturday on painting the Valentine Tree!

What makes these classes so unique is that none of ours are " paint along" classes. Every art piece is unique and individual as the person painting it!

Our Friday, Feb 10 evening class!

Our classes are a nice offering of realistic and abstract. Plenty to choose from that strike your fancy on our calendar.
 
In all, the participants have a great time. In all of them, they leave with an amazing painting, a fun experience...and really, you can't put a price on that can you?

Just two classes and a few spots left for the evenings of Feb 13 and 14 at the Twisted Vine Wine Shop location!
Sign up online at only $45.00 per couple

"Friends don't let friends paint alone!"

Painting TULIPS in WATERCOLOR

Our next class is this Wed from 6-8 pm and Steve will be instructing participants on "Painting a vase of Tulips" in WATERCOLOR! 

These images will give you an idea of what we'll be working with!

Want to see more of Steve's watercolors?

This is a BYOB class so come on out and learn some watercolor techniques!

Pop Art Pets AND Paint your Pet classes

POP ART PETS with Art Student Academy

POP ART PETS!

What a FUN class this was! And not as easy as you might think. It can be challenging to switch gears from realistic thinking to pop art thinking!

But I would say this group did it admirably!

The second collage is a few of the earlier group who worked diligently to Paint their own Pet!

The ORIGINAL "Paint your Pet" art classes with Art Student Academy!

We are the ORIGINAL "Paint your Pet" instructors and our students create lovely original art, by hand, without painting on top of a photo! 

Check our calendar to see when these classes come back up!

Girls Just want to have fun!

Girls just want to have fun!

Ok, we let guys in too :-) Stay tuned-we have plenty of them!

Exotic Paintings!

We usually offer two classes on a Saturday. A 10:00-12:00 and an afternoon 1:00-3:00. Our Jan 21 morning class was filled with students painting Van Gogh's "starry Night" and the afternoon class was "Gardens of the Louvre". Exotic locations and exotic subject matter!
They did a terrific job! Most of our new students fast become regulars in our classes and their growth in their art skills is awe inspiring.

Painting the Louvre Garden in acrylics!

 A group of 6 moms joined our  afternoon class and had a great time painting-no kids, no husbands, no worries! Although they forgot their planned bottles of wine, in actuality they were engrossed in their paintings the entire two hours. A few of our regulars were delighted with their results in this challenging subject!

"Starry Night" in acrylics

Painting Van Gogh's "Starry Night" with it's swirls and colors is a different challenge! We love to see teens painting on a Saturday morning with us and we had several including a father with his daughter, a mom with her daughter and an uncle with his 3 nieces.

We like to think that "Friends don't let friends paint alone!" could also be worded "Family members don't let family members paint alone!"

A wonderful memory builder!

Next class January 25, A BYOB event "Hot Air Balloons!"

Tulipmania! (in acrylics)

It might still be January but on this cold sunny Saturday, we painted TULIPS in acrylic paint!

Long time friends shared a bottle of wine, a 9 year worked with her arm in a sling and a charming young man decided painting tulips was OK since his was going as a gift to his grandma!

There is no doubt that tulips have been THE flower of choice over the centuries! Well, maybe the rose, but something about vivid colors and tall straight stems....a great job from this group!