PAYING ATTENTION AND LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES

     GOOD NEWS!  So far this month, just one of my galleries has sold five of my paintings!  Nice!


     In my art class and when speaking with friends lately, I have been asked several times if I have considered scheduling workshops on Poured Acrylics.  It seems everyone wants to learn how to do it! It took me lots of time and practice to get the method down and I want to save others that frustration. I don't have room in my studio to set up a workshop, and it can be expensive to rent spaces, so I put my mind to the task of finding a place that would hold a decent number of people and yet would not cost a fortune to rent. Unfortunately I was coming up empty.

     Friends of mine are building a show barn on their property but it won't be ready for another year. So I kept looking and finally came up with a location that works.  It is a large clubhouse in a local subdivision.  It is very nice as it is often used for dances, etc so we will have to be careful not to spill paint, but other than that I'm very happy with the location.  I already have some of my students from the  Acrylics class who signed up during the class session.  But I am allowed up to 25 people at this clubhouse so I will keep advertising.

       I decided to post a picture of one of my poured paintings on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK  (both public)  announcing that I was starting a list of interested parties to set up a workshop and that when the list reached the desired amount, I would set a date.  People are already getting on the list, so that's good.

     I'm getting my supplies together as I want to provide all the needed materials, and I want to have enough for a group of 10 or so.  The more, the merrier in my book!  Then I started thinking that it would be fun to do the first workshop with children.  I would have them pay a low fee to cover my expenses and they would take home their own small painting as a reward.  That would allow me to smooth out any "kinks" in my program and they would have fun in the process. Children are highly creative, and I often get some really good ideas from them, a win-win situation for sure.

     I am getting excited just thinking about this.  Pouring is not a new art form, but it's new to many people and they are itching to try it.  It will be interesting to see what other creative minds come up with.  There are so many directions this method can take and any of them could prove to be a real winner,  plus the color and design possibilities are almost endless with lots of room for fun.  I especially like the way children do not limit themselves, they just go for it!

     I must wait until this series of art classes are over, but that gives me the time to get everything I need together so I can be ready to start the workshops fully prepared.  In the meantime I created a nice flyer for the class, procured the location and set the date. I have several people signed up and paid already.  Nice!

     I will take pictures and post again after we have the class.  I'm sure there are always things to learn from such an event especially what works and what doesn't.

   POURED ACRYLICS WORKSHOP 
Create two paintings while learning what materials to use, mixing, pouring & design, to the finishing touches!   Fire your imagination and see the possibilities in this form of art!

SATURDAY - JANUARY 12th, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm MURABELLA AMENITY CENTER
101 E. Positano Avenue
St Augustine, FL 32092
$65 - Includes all supplies

INSTRUCTOR: DARA DODSON 
To Register: call 904-710-6721 OR email:  daradod@yahoo.com


     In thinking about this,  I decided to have a "poured paint" party for several younger friends of mine.  There are probably 45 children among my friends and they have asked me before to teach them how to paint.  I cannot help them all, but I can have a paint party for them!  I was going to rent the Art Studio for this, but decided instead to use my back yard.  The parents were willing to bring snacks and help out. I think it was a lot of fun, plus this party helped me to work out any issues or problems that may come up before I have the regular workshop on poured paintings.  Children are very creative, have lots of good ideas and I really enjoyed doing this, but what I didn't expect was that the parents seemed to have even more fun than the children!  I have some photos for you to see as well as photos of my regular workshop.  As always, thanks for following me!

                                   Here I am helping a young student with her painting

           One of the friends is blowing through a straw to move paint around on his canvas

         The youngest of our friends were doing finger painting or coloring with crayons,
however this perky 3 year old decided to do a "real" painting like us and was thrilled with her results!

I made sure everyone had a plastic apron and gloves on when painting, gloves were not needed for these non-toxic finger paints.  Plastic aprons can be purchased inexpensively through Blick Art Supplies (dickblick.com) Gloves are also inexpensive and available through a hardware store.

GOOD NEWS!  So far this month, just one of my galleries has sold five of my paintings!  Yay!

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