The Association for Visual Arts and Chattanooga Public Library will explore the relationship between storytelling and the visual arts in a series of adult art classes beginning this week. LibArtLive will be presented live via Zoom every Monday in June and be led by a professional artist.
During the class, each artist will discuss a favorite book and guide participants through a creative process that results in an original piece.
There is no cost to participate, though you may need to gather a few supplies to complete the project, depending on how well-stocked your arts-and-crafts closet may be. And it's possible you'll want to read the book the artists are basing their presentations on, either before or after the class.
Chattanooga artist Jaime Barks says she'll be using Delia Owens' New York Times best-seller "Where the Crawdads Sing" for her watercolor project, which kicks off the series.
Jaime Barks says she chose watercolors as her medium for the LibArtLive art class because watercolors are easily accessible. "If you need to, you could even use the kid stuff," she says. She is taking her inspiration for the art project from "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens."The main character does watercolor botanical illustrations, so I thought it would be a fun idea to do that, a simple watercolor to go along with the book," Barks says.
"I wanted to pick something that was really accessible," she says of the medium. "You can get watercolor just about anywhere, even at the drugstore. If you need to, you could even use the kid stuff."
Barks says to prepare for the class, she's been listening to an audio version of the book while painting the canvas she'll use as a guide for participants. In the book, the antagonist is
Other participants during the month will focus on mixed media, sculpture, weaving and portrait drawing, gaining inspiration from novels ("Crazy, Rich Asians," "The Beach House"), a religious text (the Quran) and an exploration of creative pursuits ("Art & Fear").
Barks, an avid reader, says she was thrilled to be asked to participate.
"Books are my second passion behind painting," she says.
The interactive classes are held 5-6 p.m. Mondays in June.
Contributed Photo by Jaime Barks / Jaime Barks will lead LibArtLive participants through a watercolor painting based on Delia Owens' best-selling novel "Where the Crawdads Sing," set on the North Carolina coast.Here's the schedule of artists, media and books. A full list of supplies - and the link to join - can be found at https://chattlibrary.org/libart/.
* June 1: Jaime Barks, watercolor, "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens.
* June 8: Jake Strauss, mixed media, "Crazy Rich Asians" by Kevin Kwan.
* June 15: Michelle Leavy, sculpture, "The Beach House" by Mary Alice Munro. (FYI: You'll be creating a ceramic loggerhead turtle sculpture.)
* June 22: Sadaf Khan, weaving, the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.
* June 29: Alex Loza, portrait drawing, "Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking" by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
Email Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com.