Monday night's class

Hello Friends,

My Monday night painting group has been together for many years. Their collective experience is quite impressive and they are all developing into nice artists. I get so excited for them and revel in their accomplishments. For a few years we strictly followed the Traditions Education Program. The program worked well and was a good starting point for a complete curriculum that delved into the many styles of decorative painting.

Since this is my most advanced group I often design the pieces that they paint. I will test pieces on them before I publish them or teach them to others. They understand this and they are pleased to be part of this process. Recently I decided that we would do an Ompir study. To save them some money, I designed a couple lessons that could be painted on one surface - a bread paddle. One of the lessons I designed that was a quirky examination of the Ompir style. I used lots of techniques in this design that were either new or reinforced other concepts from a former lesson.

The techniques used in this design include staining, underpainting, drybrushing, scrubbing, working on extender, floating, pat blending, liner work to name a few. I wanted to use this lesson as a starting point and then suggest some further Ompir studies for the students to pursue. Lynn Snyder, Donna Rose Prestridge and David Jansen all have great Ompir people that the students can paint after they compete this study.

Below is a picture of the Ompir piece that I designed. It will be offered as a pattern packet in the near future.

I will follow up this study with a study of the Ompir floral style. We will paint the Ompir florals on the other side of the bread paddle. This saves money on a surface and seems to be a good way to help students. Once I design that piece I will also post it on our blog.

Have a great day and keep creating!

Paul