As a creative soul, it’s important to me to keep a fresh flow of ideas and perspectives entering my psyche so I can continue to grow. Taking classes is a wonderful way to do so. In recent years I’ve turned to more to online classes. Though I appreciate the human component in an actual class, in an online class I don’t have to commute and carve out a substantial chunk of my day to attend one session. I also have access to the video content so I can watch the lesson over and over again. In terms of engaging with other students, there has always been a dedicated Facebook page to post and comment on other students’ work.
As I am a non-traditional artist not wedded to just painting and drawing I find there is more of an eclectic selection of classes offered online. In the past, I have taken “Make Monotypes” (Gelli Printing) with Linda Germaine, “A Year of Painting” with Alena Hennessy, & currently, “Words & Pictures” produced by Carla Sondheim and friends. All these classes have been top-notch and reasonably priced. I made the mistake with “A Year of Painting” of not researching the artist’s style thoroughly. Though it was well taught ultimately the content was not for me.
If you are interested in taking an art class online, just Google online art classes in your specific media and then do some online research on the reviews as well as the artist’s work. Instagram is a good one for that. Also, consider MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) which are FREE.
I am having loads of fun at the moment with “Words and Pictures.” This class is currently getting me out of my comfort zone to explore lots of great ideas. A friend of mine signed up for the class as well which makes it even better. The current lessons are being taught by the infamous Martha Rich. We are quick sketching life around us and the conversations we hear (including internally). I have my first ones with this post.
Never taken an art class before? Go online. There is nobody to be self -conscious around but yourself!
There are times you will find yourself mired in a quandary. Sometimes the solution becomes clear in a relatively short amount of time and in others it takes a while to get clarity. Making art is a great metaphor for life in this regard.
The ceramic mask was the same way as I tried bits of this and that over weeks. In the end, I replaced the headdress of wheat with two lovely feathers, mounted a piece of an old earring on the forehead, and then glued brass nails around the neck area. That last step made the formerly boring piece really shine.
Three years ago I started this blog to promote my artwork because that’s what “everybody” said you should do. (See “
out of my comfort zone by making a new body of work, participating in the Art Harvest Studio Tour, completing a printmaking residency, traveling 
By Alanna Pass 