By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
This past Thursday, July 18th the Dover Town Library (DTL) hosted an artistic “Poms in Space” event titled “Getting Creative with Jill!”. This was the first in a new series of programs that will meet on the third Thursday of each month from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. For each program, Jill will run a fun and creative night out in which she provides guidance and encouragement towards personal creativity for every project.
This week’s project focused around acrylic painting in which she would walk attendees through creating their very own poms in space. Before everyone started to paint, Jill addressed the crowd, “If you have taken one of my classes before, you know that they tend to be a little bit half-hazard. We have paint flying all over the place, people make individual choices and you are going to do whatever makes you feel good! Nobody will criticize, there is no ‘have to’s’ or ‘should do’s’ in this class. This is all about you. All that I ask is to first of all be kind, not only to others but also to yourselves. I have seen people, and I have even done this myself, where they are upset with how their painting originally looks, but I promise by the end you’ll love it.”
At each seat, an array of items were set up for this painting, including two paint brushes, five bubble wrap discs, a flat-edge card, two q-tips and a white canvas laying flat over some newspaper. As they began their masterpieces, Jill had them each paint their backgrounds using black and blue paint. She encouraged them to make their brushstrokes bold and really cover the entire canvas.
It was then time to add some splatter to their work if they chose to do so. Jill demonstrated the technique first which got everyone on board and eager to try it out on their own. Using some watered down white acrylic painting, attendees would dip a little onto their paintbrush and use a second paintbrush to tap it on over the canvas. This went on to create a beautiful splatter effect that perfectly depicted stars in the night sky.
Next on the docket was creating their poms that would float in the sky. After Jill demonstrated the technique, attendees took one of the bubble wrap discs at a time and lightly painted the side with bubbles on it. They would then pick a spot on their canvas and lightly tap it in place, making sure not to rub it around. Jill warned that this was a “trust-the-process” type of step in which the poms would not look completely full just yet.
Once everyone had all five poms created using different colors, it was then time to start using the q-tips to add light sources. For the highlights, attendees used white acrylic paint and tapped it consecutively on the top/side of each pom. For the shadows, they used black acrylic paint and did the same technique for each. By doing this, the poms became even more full and vibrant.
The last step was to use the straight-edge card and paint the strings attached to the poms. For added detail, attendees could also go in and add some colorful dots to the night sky and even some more elaborate stars.
Throughout the entirety of the class, Jill was cheering her artists on, absolutely loving their work and keeping every moment light-hearted and fun. While some attendees were unsure how their painting would come out, Jill certainly was right to say that in the end, they all came out amazing!
For more information about upcoming “Getting Creative with Jill!” events, please visit the DTL’s website at www.dovertownlibrary.org.
