Large, Colorful Painting with Paul Alan Bennett

This is an all-day painting class for adults taking place on Saturday, April 27 from 10 AM to 4 PM at the JAM Studio, upstairs in the Sisters Art Works building, 204 W. Adams Avenue. There is a chair lift to assist those who need it with getting to the second floor; the building is not equipped with an elevator.

Renowned painter Paul Alan Bennett will teach this class. Students will work with water-based tempera paints on a 3' x 3' sheet of tar paper, selected because its surface takes the paint very well. All supplies will be provided.

Much of the class will focus simply on the pleasure of pushing color around. Paul will start by doing some guiding drawing with everyone: simple pencil sketches that demonstrate composition and expression. Students will then receive a handout that covers Paul's basic goals in regards to color mixing, composition and working with a brush.

There will be time for everyone to do at least two paintings. One of them will be similar to Paul's presentations and the other will be an opportunity for students to play around with their own style. During the last 30 minutes after clean-up, students will put all the paintings together and have a chance to look at each others' work and talk about how the day went.

Paul Alan Bennett attended the Maryland Institute of Art and lived in Greece for 6 years where he taught art and got a master's degree in Greek History with an emphasis on Greek Art. He's published three collections of his work, including "HUG," "Night Skies," and "Pandemic Portraits." He has created backdrops for five productions for Bend Opera and is currently working on a sixth!

By his own estimate, Paul has taught this kind of painting to more than 25,000 students over the years! Participants should come dressed to paint and move around; wear an apron if you'd like! Lunch will be provided (with GF and vegan options).

Recommended tuition is $150 and this class is being offered with Pay What You Can pricing to help eliminate financial barriers for participants. Pay what you can support is available through the SFF Presents scholarship fund. This fund enables Pay What You Can access to our programs for those in financial need (on an honor based system), and also provides college scholarships for graduating Sisters High School seniors.

Refunds will be offered only if class is cancelled by SFF Presents.