By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
While the weather in North Central Ohio has been akin to early spring lately, the beauty that winter can provide was a muse at the Crestline Public Library.
Beginning at 6 p.m. Monday night the Brush and Palette Art Club’s Melissa Taylor and Carol Kable hosted a winter scene paint party allowing participants to hone their painting skills in a relaxed atmosphere.
Starting off the evening, the paint party participants painted a majority of the canvas with a blue coat of paint prior to jumping into the wintry scene, which included trees, snowmen, and the sky.
Attending her first paint party was Pat Hargis. Hargis explained what motivated her to attend the painting class.
“I like to do things that stretch me and pull me out of my comfort zone,” Hargis said. “I am a science major, I am all right brained, I think, so I need experiences like that to keep growing.”
Taylor explained what she enjoyed most about teaching the paint parties.
“Seeing the different styles, even though everyone is looking at the same sample painting, everybody comes up with something different,” Taylor said. “It is really fun to see the different looks and styles that they come up with; adding a cardinal instead of a snowman, and things like that.”
Making the evening a more jovial atmosphere were refreshments of crackers, cheese, chips, salsa, cupcakes and punch which were provided for the budding artists.
Attending a previous paint party session, Shirley Stump explained what she enjoys about them.
“It is just fun to see what I can do, and it is a feeling of accomplishment of what you can use to make your painting, and you learn different approaches,” Stump said.
Taylor noted that while the paint parties don’t happen often, she would like to branch out into other painting surfaces than just canvas.