Painting class aims to make an artist out of everyone

With one painting placed on the easel, the students of Craig Bishop’s painting class at the Art Center of Battle Creek turned away from their work to critique and discuss what has been created.

Overlapping gothic arch-shaped lines looked like a gothic cathedral, one student said to the class. Other students continued the stream of thought, interpreting lighter lines the “arches” blended into as a full Catholic mass in procession.

Another student saw the torso of a praying figure in the dark, curving outlines on the work’s edge. Bishop, the instructor, felt noise coming from the dizzying whites and yellows set over dark blue and black.

The class critiques a few finished or almost finished works at each of their classes, held weekly on Thursday mornings at the Art Center, located at 265 E. Emmett St., but here “critique” doesn’t mean “criticism.”

“The critiques are not meant to show them what they did wrong, but to help them see what they think they’ve done,” Sue Trowbridge, who co-teaches the class with Bishop, said. “Some people don’t see what they’ve done after they do it.”

These soft critiques help lessen the pressures on the students, who range from little artistic experience to holding college degrees in art.

“Our goal is to allow people to develop their own style,” Bishop said. “Everyone is unique.”

The class receives little instruction from either Bishop or Trowbridge, allowing students to experiment with colors and techniques.

Help is given if they want help on how to express an idea or on a specific painting technique, otherwise the students are free to work – a freedom that extends to their topics of conversation.

“They can all say what they want – nobody can disagree,” Bishop said. “If there is a disagreement, the rest of us will jump in and say, ‘Hey, you guys are violating the rules.’ But when we do critiques, we don’t let [the artist] say anything. If they do, they might be tempted to defend their work.”

Tom Cook, 73, started taking painting classes at the Art Center with his daughter before her death several years ago.

“When Tom started with us, his work was very monochromatic, lots of brown and black,” Bishop said. “His colors have really changed – bright colors, happy subject matter.”

Now Cook said he usually focuses on paintings of animals, from whales and polar bears to zebras and lions.

“I’ve been coming down regularly and I’ve made some progress,” Cook said. “I’ve got a couple [paintings] going at home, and I’ve been trying to get my wife to come down with me. I’ve found it to be a really good thing to do. There are a lot of good people here. The camaraderie is unbelievable.”

Judy Keene, 52, has been in the class since last fall after almost being left out due to class size constraints.

“I felt like this is where I belonged,” Keene said. “They welcomed me so sweetly and I felt that love. When I inquired about the class and found out it was full, there were tears in my eyes.”

After some mentorship from Trowbridge, Keene joined the class officially.

“Judy models the paint – she paints like a sculptor,” Bishop said, referring to the muscular-looking human figures in Keene’s work.

Keene started drawing at age 8, copying newspaper comics and making them bigger.

“I’ve always been attracted to human anatomy,” Keene said. “I used to stare at people but I didn’t know why. I started asking people if I could draw their portraits, and I saw God’s work coming through my hands. I was recreating His work on paper.”

Now Keene focuses mostly on the human body, but is willing to branch out now and then.

“I drew a dog recently,” Keene said with a smile. “God’s got hidden talents. Very soon I’m going to try and let God’s hand do some landscapes.”

Sharyn Austin has taken the class since about the fall of 2003.

Austin holds a master’s degree in painting, having painted around 45 to 50 years – a pursuit she continued when she began having vision problems after she retired.

“My first painting [in the class] was abstract, and people said, ‘Oh, she’s painting abstract because she can’t see,’” Austin, who started painting abstract-expressionist while working towards her bachelor’s degree, said. “So I started painting huge flowers to prove to people that I could see. When I looked back later, I saw the petals were formed like tears.”

Since then, Austin has varied her painting style as much as her subject matter.

“I’ve always used strong colors when I paint,” Austin said. “I did a series of dancers, I did landscapes. Painting gives me the confidence that I could do what I didn’t think I could do.”

She has also returned to more abstract works and delights in her fellow students describing what they see in her works during the critiques.

“I’m happiest when they can make up their own stories about my work,” Austin said. “Water and nature have always been a big part of my work, and some of it does have a spiritual quality to it.”