The Wednesday afternoon class meets at The Stable Studios, inside Heritage Village — for anyone living in the community, a few minutes from the door. Wednesdays, 1:30pm to 4pm, in oil and acrylic, for beginners through to advanced painters in the same room.
How it works
The Stable Studios is the arts and crafts building at 7 Heritage Way, a converted stable in the middle of Heritage Village, the active adult community in Southbury. If you do not live there, ask Lorraine whether there is a place for you before you plan around it.
Everyone paints their own subject at their own speed. Her own course description is to bring a work in progress or start something new, and each painting is evaluated individually, so your canvas is talked about with you and where you are sitting.
Her own work
Oil and acrylic — the same two she teaches in, so what you see here is what you would be learning to do. There is a good deal more of it, and her work is on exhibit at The Barn Gallery in New Fairfield and the Lyme Art Association.
When it meets
Wednesday afternoonWednesdays, 1:30pm to 4pmUp to 12 paintersAsk about current rates
Held at The Stable Studios, the arts and crafts building inside Heritage Village. It is a group class in oil and acrylic, taught for beginner, intermediate and advanced painters in the same room.
The same class, a different room
It is the same class she teaches on Wednesday mornings at her studio in Southbury — the same two media and the same instruction, in a different room at a different hour.
If the afternoon does not fit your week, the studio sessions and the outdoor painting are all on the classes page, and nothing is lost by taking one of those instead.
If you have never painted
There is no prerequisite and you do not need to be able to draw. Painting from observation is a set of habits about looking, mixing, and putting the right value in the right place, and every one of them is taught.
Beginners, intermediate and advanced painters all work in the same room, so a first canvas is exactly what the session is set up for.
Will everyone else be better?
Some people in the room have painted for years, some are on their second canvas. Everyone works on their own painting and each one is looked at on its own.
Pace and class size
Everyone works at their own speed. Nobody is set the same subject or made to keep up, a canvas can sit unfinished from one week to the next, and people often spend several sessions on one painting.
Class size is capped so she can get round everyone. The cap is on the schedule above.
Parking and access
Both rooms are in Southbury. The Southbury studio has a wheelchair accessible parking lot.
For anything else, ask before you come. Access at the door, seating, or how far the walk is from the parking area — call and get a real answer rather than finding out on the day.
Before you buy anything
Talk to Lorraine before you spend. The oil list and the acrylic list both say what to bring, and she will tell you which few things matter at the start, what can wait, and whether paints you already have are still usable. Often they are.
If a group is not for you
She also teaches one to one, scheduled around you, if you would rather not start in a group.
Questions
- Do I have to live in Heritage Village?
- Ask Lorraine. The class meets at The Stable Studios, which sits inside the community, and she is the one who can tell you whether there is a place for someone from outside it.
- I have never painted before. Is it too late to start?
- No. The class runs for beginners through to advanced painters in the same room.
- Will everyone else be better than me?
- Some will have painted for years. Everyone works on their own painting and each one is evaluated on its own, so it does not change what your own session looks like.
- Do I need to buy supplies before the first class?
- Ask before you spend. The two materials lists are linked above, and Lorraine will tell you what is worth buying now and what is not.
- What if I am slow?
- Then you are slow, and your painting takes four sessions. Nobody is timed and nobody is waiting on you.
- Is the studio accessible?
- The Southbury studio has a wheelchair accessible parking lot. For anything more specific, including inside The Stable Studios, ask before your first class.
Seats open when they open, so asking is the only reliable way to find out. Lorraine Skelskey-Chapin answers the phone herself and will tell you whether there is room, and what to bring.