• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Young Rembrandts create masterpieces

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Kaitlin Larson works on a pastel drawing during a class at the Traxler Park warming house on Tuesday. The Young Rembrandts camp teaches art skills and appreciation to children for to help foster lifelong interest in the arts.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Macey Sennett concentrates on getting things just right during a drawing class held at the Traxler Park warming house on Tuesday. The Young Rembrandts camp teaches art skills and appreciation to children for to help foster lifelong interest in the arts.

JANESVILLE — “Goldfish,” a famous painting by French artist Henri Matisse, was the inspiration for Tuesday’s pastel workshop.

Under the direction of Young Rembrandts’ instructor Laurie Mueller, a dozen students ages 8 to 12 learned how to re-create the oil masterpiece using pastels.

Students wearing old T-shirts sat at four picnic tables in the Traxler Park Warming House, quietly and intensely following “Mrs. M’s” step-by-step instructions.

The day’s 90-minute lesson was the first of three in the session. The boys and girls will reproduce pieces by Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh next Tuesday and French painter Paul Cezanne the week after that.

The classes Mueller has been teaching for three years in Janesville are so popular the workshop already is full, she said.

“Having a maximum of 12 allows me to give individual attention the students need,’’ Mueller said.

The class costs $50 with all the art supplies provided. It focuses on the fundamentals of drawing and observations—seeing lines and shapes, she said.

By the end of the third session, students will have learned to focus, how to handle time-on-task skills, pay attention to detail and improve their motor skills, Mueller said.

“To me, the drawing is just a bonus,’’ she said.

Laurie Larson of Janesville enrolled her 9-year-old daughter, Kaitlin Larson, in a class with Mueller for the second time.

“The instruction was so wonderful, I took Katilin’s art work home three years ago and framed it,’’ Larson said.

Kaitlin was anxious Tuesday to get started with friend Kaitlyn Knapton.

“It’s fun. Me and Kaitlyn use pastels at school where we will be in fourth grade,’’ she said.

Kaitlyn said the workshop gave her something to do because she hadn’t sign up for summer school. Besides, she quickly added, “I love to draw!’’

That became apparent. Mueller had to give the girls little direction and praised them every step of the way.

“That looks good,’’ said the apron-clad Mueller.

The students step-by-step drew the fish bowl, the plate it sat on, three gold fish, their reflections, greenery and pebbles before adding color.

“Coloring and not getting it on the fish has been kind of hard,” Kaitlin said, trying to wipe her hands clean.

Mueller agreed the piece was difficult.

“This was not my choice,” Mueller said. “The corporate office has a team of officers and educators that design the curriculum of five years of lessons without repeating any of the pastel camps.’’

Still Kaitlin was so proud of her work she already knew what she was going to do with it before she was finished.

“I’m going to give it to my mom.’’