If you have not subscribed to the newsletter from the Weston Art & Innovation Center, do so right now here. I’ll wait. Tick-tock, okay you’re back? I read the newsletter every time it arrives and try to imagine myself learning to sew or wading through my 16,000 digital photos and actually organizing them, or making a Viking Knit Chain (sorry that class is sold out). By the way, has anyone been watching that Viking Valhalla show on Netflix? I turned it on while waiting at a freezing cold soccer game (outside tournament on March 3, that be cruel!) and wow, that’s a whole lot of stabbing and pelt-wearing people with stringy hair and blood spattered-faces. Also, was Leif Erickson really brown-eyed and know how to braid hair? Believability issue for me. The Viking chains at the AIC seem nice though and no stabbing involved. Maybe.

In any case, the Owl has enjoyed a number of classes at the AIC including Cricut fun (I have a cool wildcat tote bag to prove it though I really covet one there in the workroom with an octopus in it–it may disappear on a Wes-TEN filming day, oops), two acrylics classes, and also an online felting class which DID involve a lot of stabbing– theoretically of felt, but in actuality my thumb. I have some nice felted evergreen trees that have just a tiny bit of blood on them. Very authentic. One of the owlets did an interesting summer film class there as well.

Some of the upcoming classes look really great including a photography class (multi-week) which looks fantastic–and taught by local resident and talented photographer Nicole Mordecai. It’s all about Photo Organizing and Editing and wow, do I need this class. Sadly I cannot make it work in my schedule this time but if you can…it starts this Wednesday at 10 am.

The one I did sign up for is Getting Abstract, a weekend acrylics class with Adria Arch, with whom I have taken two acrylics art classes. I am not an artist but I do have a lot of fun with acrylic paint which has to be the most forgiving of mediums. Just about every year at Thanksgiving, my extended family gets together and works on an acrylics project–a couple of these are past-year projects that now live in the rafters of our family room. The one on the right is unfinished…awaiting the next Thanksgiving weekend fun.

Whether or not you put your creations on display, or into a deep dark closet, the creation of art is always a distraction break from daily worries. Consider signing up for any of the upcoming classes–I promise you will learn something and have a great time. Consider joining the Owl on March 26 weekend--here’s the write-up and the link to sign up.

Get arty.

The Weston Art and Innovation Center is located in the Old Library at 356 Boston Post Road. You can read more about it here.