The Cariboo Art Society has a brand new branch at the Seniors’ Village says club president Cat Prevette.
“There are several quite accomplished painters living there so we are meeting there to work on Thursday evenings,” Prevette says.
The group meets from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Country Kitchen craft and activity room.
“We also have a little gallery that we hang our paintings in,” Prevette says.
She says the room holds 12 working painters comfortably but on some days they may have 15 people attend the sessions.
At the moment, Prevette says the group is working with water colours and acrylics which are both water soluble and easy to clean up, and not smelly.
She says one of the residents is quite accomplished in oil painting and does this work in her own apartment.
The artists meet three times a week to work with one another. Regular sessions are held at the Central Cariboo Arts Centre on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m. and on Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. until noon.
They also hold business meetings on the first Saturday of the month from 9 to 10 a.m.
The group also enjoys field trips to paint and draw in the great outdoors. This summer the group took painting trips to Rudy Johnson’s bridge, Onward Ranch, Charlotte Lake, and painted water lilies at Prevette’s home at Rose Lake.
Prevette says she has also collected 24 fun drawing games which help artists break through the anxiety barrier about what and how to paint and draw.
“The idea is to get marks on paper and not feel any angst about it,” Prevette says.
In one game you simply put 11 dots randomly on the paper and then connect them any way you feel like, a good opening to abstract art.
In another game they create mandalas. Another game is called the wave where each person puts a wavy line on the paper and the group works together to create a continuing image when the lines are all hung side by side.
Prevette says members also attend the opening at the Station House Gallery each month and the society also hosts various art workshops during the year.
She says muralist Dwayne Davis will be teaching the group how to take a small image and reproduce it in a large, four-by-eight-foot format in January 2015.
The art society is also planning a workshop in February 2015 working with mixed media to be taught by local artist Beatrix Linde.
She says the artists are currently working toward their annual show and sale with the potters which is planned for this weekend, Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8 in the Central Cariboo Arts Centre.
The artists will also be participating in the 2014 Earth Friendly Holiday Event at the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Centre Friday, Nov. 28 from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 29 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
This event is free and materials will be provided for the whole family. They will be helping visitors to make hand-painted Christmas cards and gift boxes.
The Earth Friendly Holiday Event is spearheaded by the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society and Williams Lake Field Naturalists in partnership with the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake and the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society with help from their members and member groups.
The artists also have an annual show and sale in the spring at the Station House Gallery. The show is normally held in June but will be held in May in 2015.
The theme this year is collaboration and the title is “Paint it Forward,” Prevette says.
The Cariboo Art Society welcomes any new members regardless of experience. Contact: Cat at 250-296-3670, Elisabeth 250-392 -1738 or Yvette at 250-989-4241.