Art and Drawing Classes at Surry Hills Library & Community Centre

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Posted 2013-08-21 by Justine Crowley ⇒ follow

Community classes are a great idea and pave the way for fun and different experiences. You come across a variety of different people who live in/near your area, and such initiatives also provide great opportunities to connect with like-minded people. Every Wednesday, renowned Sydney based visual artist, Jane Caveney runs art and drawing classes at the Surry Hills Library and Community Centre between 10:30am to 1pm. Classes are not run on public holidays and during the school holiday periods. There is no need to book in either; just simply turn up.

As you make your way into the Surry Hills Library, head up to stairs, and a bright, airy space awaits. Tai Chi classes are run before the art and drawing classes with Jane. You are allowed to help yourself to some tea, coffee, water or biscuits while waiting.

I had a really, really great time at this class recently. Such an experience was great therapy for yours truly. Paying only $5 for each class is so cheap. This amount is only to cover the costs of the materials and art supplies. This community based, fun-filled event is put on by the City of Sydney: Pine Street Creative Arts Centre.

'Go with the flow' is the order for the day. Many of the people who attend, come here every week. On your first visit, there are a couple of housekeeping matters, like a form that needs to be filled in, so the centre knows who you are, who to contact in case of an emergency and so on. Despite the nature of this course running on a drop in basis, they still take the roll, even though this experience is nowhere near as formal as school, uni or any other formal course/s.

Jane is lovely. She probes into your art experience, asking me whether I was engaged in art at school and/or uni, only to explain that a holiday and a writing work function led me to the paint and paint brush on a couple of occasions over the last year. I doubt that painting the house would count towards such experiences.

Great rapport building, and we don't get stuck into the art straight-away. Our group talked and talked about things unrelated to art, and sometimes to do with art for half an hour at least. None of us wanted to be inside. Someone wanted a latte, and wanted to draw. Jane asks the group whether they're in the mood to paint or to draw, and on this occasion, it was off to the park across the road for the entire time, and we drew. A fantastic opportunity arose (towards the end) to draw something paint related on a canvas. The productivity could be questionable, as the weather outside was rather glorious. Many of us were (on the contrary) quite social. It was a case of drawers block at first, if such a word exists. A bit of procrastination snuck in at first, and Jane's encouraging words inspired one to keep on drawing.

It went to show (as you can see in the images) that my way with (and passion for) words started to overtake the actual drawing experience, even though we all (as a group) laughed and laughed. Heaps of fun indeed. Jane gave us all a template to help us zoom in on the object/s in the park that we wanted to draw. Also knowing the difference between your lights, mediums and darks did (indeed) help my tree come to life a little more, even though it still takes a bit of technical expertise to get it right.

Jane was friendly, and still used artistic words to convey her tips, only to then explain them in layman's terms. Locals and visitors to Sydney enjoyed this experience equally. So cool, everyone was lovely, and as part of the 'therapy' from the crazy few days one had had prior, words started to make it to the paper, with an unfinished piece of work. I clearly fell way behind on the time management side of things, especially as I was in the mood to talk to people and make friends. Indeed, you can (and do) make more friends in this amazing program.

Some really interesting characters, and again, they were a real joy to be around. Sooner or later I had to confess to the group that I am a freelance writer, and then all of a sudden feedback such as "you are mainly lettering, and not drawing," and hilariously: "this is an art class, not a copywriting class," all came out as feedback towards me and my work. Surprisingly, a couple of other people at the workshop said of my pieces of 'art': "this is amazing."

Definitely a great way to spend a leisurely, Wednesday morning if you can. Next week the guys will be painting. Jane is lovely and all professional. Highly recommended.