GR seniors create autumn painting

For seniors who have always wanted the opportunity to learn how to paint, an eight-week long beginners painting class was perfect for them.

The class is being taught by Pam Edens, with Kathleen Thomas assisting. Over the course of eight weeks, the participants will have painted eight pieces, including fireworks over Castle Rock, a realistic pumpkin, autumn splendor, Expedition Island, ghosts at play and a pathway into the woods.

"These are all one-day paintings for beginners and up," Thomas said.

The class, which meets on Fridays, starts at 9 a.m. and wraps up around 3 p.m. This includes breaks for lunch and snacks. When the artists are finished with their work, most of them take them home to enjoy, Thomas said.

Thomas said this class is a way to encourage those who have an interest in painting to give it a try. At this point, the class is about halfway through the eight weeks.

"So many people are afraid to paint," she said.

On Friday, two tables were full of ladies learning how to create an Autumn scene with trees and a pathway. After the ladies finished drawing the outlines of their trees, they started to add white and lavender colors to their canvas. These would act as the background filler colors, which would stand out later.

After Edens would cover one step of the painting project, she would complete hers and then walk around the table and offer advice to those who needed it. She would also show them various techniques on how to get the look they were after. Thomas would also give the ladies tips and she showed some how to use their fingers to smooth the paint out. Thomas told them everyone is different and some just need to feel the paint to know what it's supposed to be like.

Some ladies found out they were using too much water with the acrylic paints, while others discovered they weren't using enough.

With one step complete, Edens would ask the usually quiet group if they were ready to move onto the next step. Edens received a collective "no" from the group.

Thomas said when the paintings are finished it's always interesting to see a person's take on the original.

"No two paintings ever look alike," Edens said.

She said she could paint two or three and they would not turn out the same.