Artistic Flair: Artist Paul Troia displays his painting 'New Orleans After Dark.' The painting is on exhibit as part of the Kensington Art Centre's eighth annual student show.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Kensington Art Centre gives new artists a place to study and show
By Moryt Milo
Although art galleries have become a common sight in the South Bay, art classes taught in a gallery are fairly unusual. But Kensington Art Centre, located at 347 E. Campbell Ave., has offered art classes to novice artists for eight years. During that time art instructor and artist Carolyn Larsen has helped countless students develop their skills in mediums such as oils, watercolors, pastels and graphite.
At the centre, from the beginning of their first class, students are working toward one major goal: exhibiting three pieces in the annual spring student show.
"There is no other [local] venue where a beginning artist can study and show their work," Kensington Art Centre owner Michael Symons says. "We give them that chance."
Preparing for a show helps students learn how to exhibit their work, meet deadlines, and be part of a group learning process, Larsen says.
"This approach to teaching brings the students' work to a higher level," she adds.
Surrounded by walls of artwork, forty students spend three hours each week developing their skills. Among these aspiring artists are Campbell residents Betty Turrentine McGuire, Judith Peterson, and Bruce Chandler and former Campbell resident Paul Troia. They say the common thread that brought them to the classes was a desire to improve as artists and an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day grind.
Troia, 31, is this year's feature artist in the student show. He had tired of photography and saw painting as the next logical step.
By committing to art classes, Troia says, he stays "on track as an artist."
One of his paintings, which he began in October 1999, took three years to complete.
"A lot of times I was really burned out with the piece," he says. "But Carolyn kept me focused and directed. Her guidance meant a lot to me."
Troia says there were days he would come to the centre feeling cranky but found himself leaving happy. Working in the ambience of a gallery with other students gives an emotional lift, Troia says.
Artist Betty Turrentine McGuire has been taking classes at the school since its inception. Her interest in art began after she enrolled in a drawing class at West Valley Community College. She realized it was something she enjoyed and wanted to seriously pursue.
"I am completely absorbed when I come to classes." she says. "It is real social and I enjoy painting around other artists."
For McGuire, 58, "it's all about the journey" and finding satisfaction in what she creates. She credits Larsen with improving her artistic skills, and giving her the confidence to set up a studio in her home.
Through Larsen's instruction, McGuire has a better understanding about color and contrast and what makes a good painting.
"Carolyn is kind, but she is also honest," McGuire says.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
The Artists: Artists Betty Turrentine-McGuire, Bruce Chandler and Paul Troia, from left, display some of their artwork, which is now showing at Kensington Art Centre. The art school's eighth annual student show opened April 26 and will be exhibiting through the month of May.
Honesty and guidance were exactly what Campbell resident Bruce Chandler sought when signing up for classes at the centre.
The 57-year-old art student wanted to call his watercolor paintings worthy. He had taken classes at an adult education center, but the class leaned more toward socializing than learning. He went looking for a different venue.
At the centre, he found students focused on their craft in a setting that is all about art, with a teacher who supports each student's unique set of talents.
Judith Peterson also wanted to find a teacher. She wandered into the centre, met Larsen, and began taking classes in 1998.
"It takes a little courage to get going," she says. "But coming to classes is what makes it work, and that's how you develop your raw talent."
Peterson, 61, paints portraits, and she says that with Larsen's assistance, her skills have strengthened.
Like Troia, Chandler, McGuire and Peterson relish the warm feeling of being part of a group of like-minded people and appreciate the way their peers become involved in each other's artwork.
"It gives a lot of energy to the work and it is easier to paint in a group," she says.
In effect, the classes offer a rather Bohemian atmosphere. As the students work side by side at long tables or easels, Larsen walks from student to student, discussing and critiquing each work.
It is part of the gallery's allure-the blending of finished work with work in progress. Symons says it is the reason the business is called a centre-it is more than just a gallery with artwork for sale. Larsen and Symons have worked to remove the mystique that surrounds a gallery, and encourage people to walk in and browse. Larsen says that from the beginning she and Symons "wanted to remove the fear factor of a gallery ... and put out a welcome mat."
With paintings on the walls, an active framing business, an art school, and a group of attorneys renting offices upstairs, the gallery is far from traditional.
It's all part of what gives the centre its unique flair, and the reason why most passersby who venture into the centre are surprised by what's behind the double doors.
Even students have a hard time pinpointing why the setup works.
When asked to summarize why she finds painting in the centre so pleasant, Peterson says, "It just offers a sense of safety and comfort."
It's that sense of encouragement that draws students to the centre, with many continuing for more than five years under Larsen's tutelage.
It is one of the reasons her students want to encourage others to give art classes a try.
"Lots of curious people walk into the gallery during class," Peterson says. "They seem interested in what we are doing and come up to me and say, 'I can't do that.' But I think they can. They just have to take the plunge."
Campbell, California
