Last Friday night we hosted our monthly Cork&Canvas event, and what a spread we had! We always provide the beverages, but this group really went all out and brought a bunch of snacks to make themselves right at home, which we love so much.  As you can see from that picture of our beautiful table, we were making a painting of a steaming hot mug of a beverage of your choice.  Some had tea, others espresso, and I believe there were a couple Irish Coffees in there too.

It's always such a blast running these events, the evening has such a fun and relaxing pace.  We turn up some music and let everybody get settled and hang out a little as they start to get their supplies prepped.

Once everybody is ready to get going, I start letting people know the logistics of how things are going to roll and then we jump in!

This was a fun painting to watch come along around the classroom.  Different mug colors and swirl patterns were happening all over the place.

Barbara and I talked about the pros and cons of doing black outlines along the red pattern of the table cloth.  She was really feeling the line work and went for it, which I was so glad to see.  A unique touch on this painting for sure.

I love the way the blue in Michele's table cloth pulls in the white in different places.  And don't forget to check out that fancy signature tree of her's in the bottom corner! 

Aside from an excellent display of paintings from a mother/daughter duo, this photo is a great example of the space we were in.  Check out the art on those walls; we held the event in one of our gallery spaces which currently has the photography of Kate Hannon on display.

Here is a sneak peak at the next painting we are going to be doing here at Laura's Center for the Arts on December 13th, "Snow Dusted Park."

Painting by Cork&Canvas participant, Meghan Dinsmore

Last Friday we ran our Cork&Canvas event which involves paint and wine.  It's a new painting fad that is all over the place lately because it is kind of a blast.  The whole deal is that it's a take on what Bob Ross was famous for, which is walking people through a painting regardless of the student's painting experience. We've just added music and wine.

Bob Ross, what a gemstone.

We made Sugar Skull paintings in preparation for the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).  The imagery from these celebrations are so beautiful, I couldn't resist getting going with them this month even though the celebration traditionally takes place on November 1st.  This Sugar Skull in particular is a lot of fun to walk a class through because there is so much space for each person's personal touch.  I show everybody different examples of embellishments they can paint on, like the flowers and some of the swirly shapes, and from there people basically just pop them all over their piece wherever they think it works best. 

I have a lot of fun teaching these classes, but creating the original painting that we work from is a pretty huge highlight of the process.  For the sugar skull, I pulled pretty hard from the traditional Day of the Dead imagery, but I was also sure to take look at some of the artists who inspire me regularly. 

Artist: Quyen Dinh

I pulled the flower layout from artist Quyen Dinh of Parlor Tattoo Prints.  I'm so into her artwork and endlessly impressed at the rate in which she pushes out new pieces at such a solid high quality.  Looking at the above image, I'm realizing now how much I need to purchase that calendar for my office.

Artist: Paula Tamara Hoss

Paula Tamara Hoss has made several amazing Sugar Skull paintings that I've seen, in addition to this triptych, that really get my mind going on the endless possibilities of bling (no, squiggly red line, bling IS a word) that can be added to these skulls.

Next month we are making a painting that will make you feel all warm and cozy on the inside:

More info on how to sign up for this one here