Want to join an art class, but need somewhere to start? We’ve got you!
The City of Regina is hosting an art class by Nikki Jacquin. This art class focuses on expressive watercolour techniques. It is currently taking place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9 a.m.-12 p.m., March 5-14.
The current class that Jacquin is teaching is a class that focuses on different watercolour techniques. According to the All Events website when searching up Expressive Watercolour Techniques, this class works by teaching you different methods of watercolour.
The website explains this is a time when you review basic watercolour techniques and move towards different techniques and different tools. The website states you can spend time “exploring techniques of sponging, crumpled siran, [sic] salt applications, splashing, wax, resist, imprinting, collage, mixed mediums and more!” It’s recommended that attendees bring a reference picture to help guide their artwork.
Jacquin explained, “This week we worked on a form of bubble art. This is where you blow bubbles, then touch the bubbles with your paint and add the texture to your paper to create bubble shapes.”
Bubble art is the perfect name for this fun-sounding skill. Overall, learning these different watercolour techniques seems cool and challenging.
Jacquin decided to spend time teaching watercolour techniques because of how much time she’s spent learning and creating art. She said, “I teach many different mediums. In my 28 years as a visual artist, there have been times when I was losing enthusiasm and inspiration for painting the same old way.”
According to Jacquin, the best way to combat lack of inspiration is “To shake things up. I found switching mediums or working with mixed media helped me inject new excitement into my work. I wanted to pass this idea on to my students. The idea is that materials and tools outside of the norm for watercolour can be used to help revive their passion for watercolour.”
Jacquin spent time teaching her students new techniques two days this week. Then the attendees were allowed to play around with the technique and see how they felt about them. Then, by the third day of the class, they could choose to develop a new painting or add it to a current painting they are working on.
This is how the current expressive watercolour art class is set up. Although, Jacquin has been doing art and teaching art classes for years, so it’s possible there’s been different ways before. To learn about Jacquin’s art history, she touched base on remembering doing art for years, ever since she was four-years-old.
She remembers spending time with her dad as a child and visiting with her dad before he would go off to work. While they were visiting, she would draw a resemblance to the squirrel Skippy on the peanut butter jar. Ever since then, she has been motivated to work on her artwork.
As Jacquin grew older she kept up with her artwork. She went through her years of high school with a very motivating art teacher. This led her towards taking some fine art classes at Campion College at the University of Regina. However, most of her artwork and passion came from being self-taught and exploring by attending workshops and working with fellow artists.
While working on her art skills over the years, Jacquin has spent lots of time learning and working on different art techniques. Jacquin says she doesn’t have an ultimate favourite type of art technique.
“I like them all, but recently I have been growing an appreciation for modern movements of art and the contextual aspects of how they add deeper meaning to what the artist is doing. In the way of methods and materials they are using. It echoes a meaning in the work that they are trying to communicate.”
Recently, Jacquin has moved towards teaching classes through the City of Regina. In the past, Jacquin taught all different styles of class. She mentioned one specific one she taught that sounded very interesting to me called a “Café Sketchbook Tour.”
In the past, Jacquin spent time teaching an art class at different coffee houses in and around the city. While you were at the café, you would learn a new technique for your sketchbook and spend time enjoying a coffee, eating food, and enjoying each other’s company. Jacquin has taught this class in the past and is looking forward to bringing it back soon!
This specific class idea really spoke to me as a university student. I don’t know about other university students, but sitting in a café, enjoying a drink and food, and working on studies is one of my favourite things to do on an outing. Now that I know I can spend time learning and doing art in the same places, I am instantly intrigued!
If this is a class you would be interested in taking, Jacquin will be offering it in May through the Neil Balkwill Civic Arts Centre and the City of Regina. You can find more information about this upcoming class through regina.ca or by calling 306-777-PLAY. You can also find more of Jacquin’s artwork and different tours, classes, and history of her artwork at www.nikkisporitraits.com.
If you are interested in signing up for an art class or working on a different art medium, Jacquin wants to remind all the different artists to be relaxed and go with what the art does.
When you are working with different artworks, textures, or mediums, it’s important to be spontaneous and work with the art and not against it. You can create a beautiful painting. Be kind to yourself and keep an open mind. Art is different for everyone, and every piece can be different as well!
