Somewhere in the middle of August, between trips to Canada (see post The World Needs More Canada) I took a Dot Painting class at Pinspiration in Loveland, Colorado with my friend J and her granddaughter P (who is 28).
I was inspired to take the class by this display in J’s amazing quilt studio (see post Project Linus Mini Retreat, Part II ) at her window well (basement window):
J and P had taken several Dot Painting classes before and most of the pieces were made by P who has become very adept at Dot Painting!
The class was taught by amazing Lori Wilson of Made for You Creations and the class attendee were painting a small “lazy susan”/turntable. She brought in some examples of her turntables and the class sample:
If you remember how much I LOVE SUNFLOWERS, I loved the sample in the second image!
So first we learned Dot Painting techniques and practiced with the color palette we selected from the available acrylic paints:
But here is my practice sheet (first image) vs. the instructors example (second image):
I was either too heavy handed or too hesitant but I got more comfortable with practice 🙂
Then it was time to put paint on my turntable (a little bit of fear setting in), but the instructor had marked the turntable with chalk markings to guide us.
And then I progressed from this:
To this:
Here are examples of some of the other students work in class including my friends J and P who are the first two images:
In the last image, the student deviated from the sample pattern we followed after making a mistake on one of the rounds and instead created a masterpiece!
It was such a fun class with lots of laughs, special adult beverages, and snacks!
J and I went thrift shopping in Loveland before class with some great finds, and P met us for a yummy dinner at PF Changs before class. A very good afternoon/evening!
The next day after returning home I bought a can of shellac and shellaced my turntable to seal in the paint and protect it.
I did buy one of the inexpensive toolkits the instructor was selling and some blackboard paint (the base layer for whatever you want to dot paint) and I want to try making something on my own someday. I am waiting invest in paints when I am actually ready and I’d like to do a mandala on a rock (and I recently found a book on doing just that at a second hand bookstore!)
tierneycreates 