Classes encourage creativity

The Paradise Center started its spring art classes last week with new ones and an old favorite and with more to come.

The carving class finished last Wednesday, but the photography and glass fusing classes are four-part series and continue into the month of April. This was the first time for Tom Collins of Plains to give a wood carving class at the Paradise Center with three women and one man forming a head from basswood, a relatively soft wood common with carvers.

"I carved a bar of soap when I was 6 years old, but I don't remember what I was trying to do," said Lores Porter of Plains, one of Collins' students. Collins provided written directions with sample pictures and head carvings showing five progressive stages. The project was done in 41 steps with Collins taking the students through each one during class. The students had two classes that went for two hours each on two Wednesday evenings. Collins has been a carver for more than 10 years and heads the Plains Wood Carving Club. He has also been the main coordinator for the Montana State Wood Carvers Show in Missoula for the last six years.

"I thought the carvers did really well," said Collins, who demonstrated each step for the students, which was extremely helpful, according to Linda Brown, who enjoyed the class. Sharon Neilson and Randy Evans also took the class. "All of the students showed a propensity toward carving," added Collins, who also said three of them might join the local carving club, which meets at the VFW each Tuesday evening. "It is a lot of fun, but the time goes so fast," said Neilson, who would like to carve a moose figurine someday.

The carvers used only a basic carving knife and all nearly finished their project on the last night last Wednesday, which went a little past the end of class time with Collins demonstrating the ears, the final part. "I was very proud of them and their accomplishments," he said.

This year's classes also include a one session water color painting class, which takes place April 2 by Ilene Paulsen. Ellen Childress and Karen Thorson will be giving a four-part series pottery class starting on April 4. A three-part series tincture class will be taught by Tessa Knudson starting April 6, and Kathleen Hubka will be giving a three-part series of acting improvisation starting on May 6. The cost of the classes varies depending on the cost of materials. Most of the classes have limited space. For information, call Janice Hanson at 406 826-3656. Hanson said they need two more people for the tincture class, which is the making of homemade medicine of liquid herbal extracts from plants. Hanson said that this will be the first time for tincture, but the center has had watercolor painting, pottery and acting classes before.

Plains resident Tracy Scott has seven students in his four-part photography class, which meets each Monday evening and has two weeks remaining. Scott said two of the students use cell phones to shoot pictures. Scott encourages people to use actual cameras and to shoot on manual mode in order to learn the functions of their cameras. He said his students are interested in shooting nature and landscapes.

Scott showed them examples of lighting and composition and several of his own work. Each week, they are asked to email him three of their photos for a critique in class. He said the students have been very enthusiastic. "They were excited to learn the basics of doing more to improve their hobby," said Scott.

Scott has been a professional photographer since 1985 and a Rhode Island School of Photography graduate. He used to own a portrait photography studio in Missoula, where he did high school senior pictures and weddings, but since 2000, he has concentrated on nature photography since 2000 and has taught photography workshops from the Rocky Mountains to Glacier National Park.

The Paradise Center started the adult art classes in the fall of 2017, except in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. The center also offers summer art classes for children, which take place this year June 12-17. Karen Thorson, the center's board secretary, said they have not confirmed instructors for the summer classes, though she said they hope to have topics such as creative writing, painting, pottery, printmaking, music, and acting.

Thorson is also the instructor for the glass fusing class, which began on Sunday and runs until April 16. This is the fourth time she has taught the class. She gave it twice last year because there were enough for two classes.

Sunday's class was an introduction to the types of glass and a variety of projects by Thorson and former students. They practiced making glass cuts, one of the most critical aspects, according to Thorson, who has been doing glass fusing for about 15 years.

The students will do three projects over the next four weeks. For her final project, Karen Ryan of Plains plans to incorporate a dragonfly into the pattern. Ryan also signed up for the photography and tincture classes. Katherine Maudrone of Thompson Falls said she was a little intimidated, but added that she knows the class will be fun.

The process involves cutting the glass and gluing the pieces together in order to get it to the kiln, where the heat is set at 500 degrees. The piece is left at that temperature for a time, then slowly raised, leaving it at certain temperatures as it is raised to 1,450 degrees.