Saturday, September 7, 2024
Buchanan, Forrester and Conn.
Knudson showing off her mushroom painting on the right.
The library provided copies of outlines created by Conn which could be filled-in and personalized by the class.
Penny Conn teaches free, fun art class at Azle Memorial Library
On Saturday, June 17, the Azle Memorial Library held a free watercolor painting class. Guests were provided with tips, tricks and instruction from qualified instructors and the 29 who showed up that morning walked away with self-made paintings of galaxies, flowers, feathers and mushrooms.
One attendee, Mandy Knudson hosts a free painting hangout in the park on some weekends, though this is the first time she’s worked with watercolors in a long time.
“It’s really nice because I don’t have very much experience in watercolor, but I learned a lot today,” Knudson said. “I feel very comfortable around paint but not watercolors, so this is giving me some courage. I really feel like I picked up a lot today and I know I’m looking forward to doing some more and expanding myself. Penny’s been really nice, and it’s been really great. It sounds like everyone is having a great time. It’s just fun to do something you haven’t done since you were a kid.”
The instructor, Penny Conn is an artist and retired dog groomer who moved to Azle last December.
“I work in almost any medium,” Conn said. “I teach off and on, I’ve taught senior citizens, I taught art and music at my daughter’s private school. I’m in my 70s, so I’ve been doing a lot for a long time.”
Conn sells art on her Facebook page and has also received commissions.
“I don’t do portraiture, but animals and inanimate objects I can do. I work in graphite, acrylics, oils, colored pencils, watercolor, just about anything,” Conn said.
Conn’s 13-year-old grandson, Liam Forrester was also present, acting as a co-instructor for the class. Forrester has been learning to paint with his grandmother for most of his life.
“I had a wonderful time helping people, giving advice,” Forrester said. “I love to do art with my mee-maw. I just like to help people, give them tips and help them feel confident making their art. For me, the best part is just seeing how things turned out and being happy with what I made.”
Conn was grateful for the library for inviting her to teach.
“It was great,” Conn said of Saturday’s class. “Everybody was so kind and so nice, and they were very good with Liam. Rebecca was great and the library was fantastic through this whole thing. They furnished everything. It was wonderful.”
Conn hopes to return to the library to instruct a painting session in the fall.
“We’ll do pumpkins and what I’m thinking too is there’s certain tricks to painting Christmas trees, so we can do both because Christmas is just right around the corner, but hopefully graphite too in the next month or two.”
Rebecca Buchanan, Adult Activities Director affirmed Conn’s sentiments and looks forward to her returning to the library soon.
“We loved having Penny come out here and teach this class, we had such a great turnout and we’re looking forward to having her come back for future opportunities, perhaps a charcoal and graphite class and another watercolor class in the future,” Buchanan said. “Everyone has talent, it’s just a matter of trying.”
