sra in 2019

What an amazing year it has been. SRA has always been a small business that is guided by the single idea that everyone can be artistic, you just have to learn how. I take great pride in watching my students blossom into inquisitive thinkers and Art makers.

To all my amazing students and to the newcomers, here’s a review of all the fun we got up to each week in class.

Classes were a steady go

Our community is a small but vibrant one. As of 2019, the SRA Community comprises 9 amazing men and women, between the ages of 28-70, from a variety of backgrounds. We have students from Australia, England, France and Germany; students whose English is their 2nd language; an Army retiree, retired geophysicist, child care workers, teachers, a scientist; full time career persons, and freelance workers. You can only imagine all the conversations we get into every week.

During 2019, classes ran for about 46 weeks this year, with just a short 4-week break in August (more about that to come).

SRA hosted 3 classes per week. On a Wednesday morning students would join us for Portrait painting, Thursday evenings were for Introductory Figure Drawing and Saturday mornings reserved for Intermediate Figure Drawing. Some students even took advantage of attending multiple sessions in other courses, which lead to everyone getting to know each other very quickly.

Art history seminars

Last year, Students attended 2 Inspirational Seminars. These were 3hr Saturday sessions, where we put down our pencils and brushes, and spent some time listening and learning about the Greats.

Inspirational Seminar I: Expressionism was held in February 2019. Students were transported to the turn of the 20th Century and met Artists like E. Munch, H. Toulouse-Lautrec, P. Gauguin, G. Klimt and E. Schiele. We discussed at length the 1st paradigm shift in the Art world and the onset of Art bring an internal expression on the canvas.

Later in October, Inspiration Seminar II was held. This time, we discussed and learnt all about the importance of an Idea in Art. Students got to meet Artists like M. Duchamp, D. Rivera and none other than P. Picasso. We began to peel the layers back on each Artist and really understand their mantra in Art. We learnt that Art sprouts from Mania, a preoccupation with a single emotion, idea, thought. We watched footage of each Artist working in their studio and heard them talk at length about the work they do.

I try my best to make Art approachable for everyone. My students enjoy sitting back with a cup of tea and absorbing images, video clips and other multimedia that help them understand what the fuss is all about. We sit, we chat and we learn so much in these Seminars.

1st live model session at sra

In November 2019, SRA made a tremendous accomplishment. We hosted our 1st ever Live Model session in the Saturday Morning Figure Drawing Class. It was the 1st time for most to draw from life and for me to teach with a Live model in the room. This began as a trial to see if the class was ready for a model. It was a success! At first, the students were a bit timid, but as the timer started on this 1st pose, everyone hit the ground running.

By the end of the 3 hr session, students had 7-8 drawings of the model. We started with 3 20 minute poses, a 30 minute pose and concluded with a series of 1 minute poses. Everyone was amazed that even for the 1 minute poses, there was a complete image every time. Their excitement only made doing this trial even more rewarding. Our fabulous model (who by the way had never done anything like this) was excited to do it again.

It was such a great day for SRA, we will definitely be hosting more of these sessions again in 2020.

End of Year Party 2019

On Saturday December 22nd 2019, we ended our Saturday session early and invited the other weekly students to join us for a BBQ. It was an afternoon of catching up as a group and having way too many goodies to eat.

We looked at each other’s year of drawings and paintings and all agreed that this was a year of grand improvement. I am excited to see where their Art takes them in 2020.

Thank you to all my amazing students! You have made 2019 such a positive and memorable one. Soon I will be writing about all the other fun activities we got up to in 2019. It was all too much to post in one blog. We’ve been busy.

Click on the buttons below if you would like to be a part fo the SRA Community in 2020. We look forward to meeting you.