Art Room (Open to all)

[Fern Newburry]

"What a drearier day...." a soft voice sighed gently as it's dainty red-violet haired owner made her way up the sidewalk towards the education building. Pausing to look up at the dark clouds that rolled through the sky and smothered out the sun, casting a dim gray light over the academy grounds.
Shaking her head in dismay Fern adjusted her pale brown wool coat, making sure both herself and the tiny teacup pot-bellies piglet who's head peeked out of canvas bag she had clutched to her chest inside of it were warm and protected from the harsh and nippy autumn wind before moving on.
She had woken up this morning hoping to get in a trail ride after work, but with the way the weather was looking she figured she was probably better off nixing that plan.

Grateful to be warm and sheltered from the poor once she finally got inside the woman wandered down the hallways slowly until she finally found a heavy gray steel door with her class room number printed on it in white paint.
Digging in her coat pockets she searched until she eventually found her set of keys attached to her cellphone and before too long managed to get the stubborn lock to unlatch and heave open the door.
After flicking on the lights Fern's eyes widened and she smiled pleasantly. She liked what she found.

Her class room was a large, open and airy space with wonderful lighting from both over head fixtures and the long sliding glass door that lead out to a covered cement patio that housed three potter's wheels. Inside the ceiling was tall and the walls a naked bright white (something she would have to change, maybe even making it her first project for her students), the side to the left lined with what looked to be an endless stream of cupboards and drawers as well as baskets that mounted on the wall for spare rolls of paper and a big utility sink just across from a brand new firring kiln.
To her right sat her desk and computer that sat kitty corner to a huge smart-board where she would be able to project images to the seven large tables that faced the area. This is where the tiny woman undid her coat and leaned down to let Charlot the piglet out to stretch her legs. Laying down a house training pad usually made for puppies and a large blanket along side her desk.
The pig wasn't yet old enough to stay in Fern's apartment by herself, so she brought her with her just about every where she went.

Once Charlot was cuddled up in her blanket napping Fern stood up and smoothed out the skirt to her long sleeved mint green dress and set off to find an apron and gather the supplies she would need for her first class. Cans of paint, spray bottles, pencils, brushes, sponges, rollers, two step ladders from from the cleaning closet and a couple white sheets to lay down to protect the hard wood floors.
She wasn't sure if she would be able to pull this project off, but she wanted to at least be prepared while she waited for the bell to ring.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose walked out to the art room, her red pea coat pulled around her tightly, with a scarf circling her neck. Winter was closing in fast, and she certainly was not ready for it. She loved the snow and holidays, but the bone chilling cold was not something she was fond of. Nor was she fond of the the freezing ground that made dismounting painful.

Once she got to the art room, she closed the door firmly behind her, looking around. The room was rather large and bright, unlike the dreary weather outside, and had a wonderful atmosphere. She walked over to the teacher greeted her quietly, "Hello, I'm Rose Hoff. It's a pleasure to be here." After the teacher responded, she made her way over to one of the seven tables and set her bag down at the foot of a chair, and took her coat off, folding it neatly and putting it on top over her bag. Rose wore a long sleeve, cranberry woolen skater dress and leather oxford, and she sat down, smoothing her skirt over her legs.

Looking around, she noticed the blank white wall and paper on the floor, as well as the ladders. Whatever they were doing today, it was sure to be large scale. Rose was used to drawing on a tiny scale, and the thought of it worried her, but she supposed she's get used to it.

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[daine6]

Chris smiled as he walked energetically towards the art room. This was a class he was looking forwards to, surprisingly, but he only really disliked his core classes, so maybe it wasn't -that- shocking... He slipped inside the room, pausing to look around, and grinned in delight upon noticing that only he, the teacher, and another student were there so far.

"Hello, I'm Chris Saito." He said loudly as he walked on inside the room, towards the other student, making a snap-decision to sit at the same table as she. Before sitting, he shrugged out of his jean jacket, revealing a pale pink t-shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt (after-all, wasn't the saying 'real men wear pink'...?... In fact, that saying was printed across the back of the t-shirt). He wore light brown hiking boots (though they had obviously never seen a wash, as they were quite dirty-looking with dried mud and what looked like oil on them...) and his jeans were ripped at the knees and faded, as the cold weather really didn't bother him; it wasn't near as cold as it was going to get, though, he knew. Only his hair was styled perfectly, actually.

Chris gave the teacher a cheeky grin. He was definately trouble, though not in the bad way. He then turned to look over the room again, this time noticing what he hadn't earlier. His grin widened. Oh, this is gonna be a fun class...

[Peter Holden]

Peter hurried to the art room, quite excited for his first art class. He'd been told that he was quite creative, and had been eager to take this class. He'd taken art classes back in England, and had been thrilled to sign up for the class at Blue Ridge.

He hurried in the door and paused for a second once he entered, looking around. It was very large and aesthetically pleasing, and he stepped in, walking over to an empty table and shrugging off his coat, placing on the table before him. He wore a hunter green crew neck sweater and dark jeans, his hair tousled as usual.

His eyes fell on something wrapped in a blanket beside the teacher's desk. Upon closer inspection, it proved to be a piglet, and he smiled. He'd have to take Lacey for a walk later, after working with Thimble for a bit. They'd probably do some jumping, and the mare was sure to be spicy in the chilly weather. But afterwards, he'd take Lacey out on the trails for a walk, which he hadn't done yet. He'd mostly just walked her around the campus, and the border collie was sure to be excited about her new surroundings.

[Fern Newburry]

A bright and vibrant came to Fern's face when she saw that students were starting to file in from the cold, wet weather. Bringing a soft rose color to her cheeks that had previously been pale from being outside in the wind and giving her gray-blue eyes a look of excitement and a faint twinkle of curiosity. She wouldn't wait to get started on the group project, even as her mind raced with other thoughts such as if she would have more students coming through the door and how each one of their art styles may differ from the others.
In fact, that was the reason she had chosen doing a mural for their first activity. She wanted to get a chance to see each ones potential right off the bat, simply because no two people saw or made art the same way another did. Plus it was great way to exercise team effort and get the kids working together so that Fern could help work out any kinks in the social hose if she could.

Nodding in greeting to each of them and chuckling when Charlot started running in her sleep, letting out a tiny squeal before sleeping peacefully once again Fern made her way back to the front of her desk and perched herself on the ledge.
Her white stocking clad legs swinging back and forth, making the heels of her tan mary-janes tap against the wood behind them. She dressed in a childish way, reminiscent of the late Victorian era. Better known a Lolita to some.

"Bonjour, mes chers!
She greeted her class in French pleasantly

"My name is Fern Newburry, and I will be teaching this school year's art class, as I am sure you know."
Though she spoke fluent English, Fern still held a heavy accent from her home country.
"If you'd be so kind as the look at the wall to your right, if you have not already done so, you will find that I have already gathered most of the supplies that will be needed for today's first lesson.
Standing up again the dainty woman wandered through the space between the tables.
"Today I would like for us all to work together on a wall mural for the class room. Just to help you get into the flow of things and to help you get to know your fellow class mates.
You may make your creations in any style or on any subject you wish, all I as is that it be kept appropriate and you be mindful of others around you and their space. Please do not do such things as hogging an entire half of the canvas to yourself.

Spinning on her heel to face her students again, Fern's head tilted to the side.
"Before I set you free I would like to go over some rules, that I will later have posted by the door.
First off, respect your class mates. I will not stand for petty bickering, bullies, or for people making fun of another's art. If I see or hear about any of this, I will go straight to the head master and ask that you be removed from the class."
Even though she still had a smile on her face, Fern had suddenly become very serious while he stated the first rule. Making sure she got her point across to anyone who may want to start any trouble.
"Second, I don't mind if you bring your musicale devices into the class with you. I do believe that music can help to fuel curiosity. However I ask that you keep your head phones off when I'm addressing the class and that you leave your phones behind.
Third; there will absolutely be no food or drinks aside from clean, clear water in the class room. Unless you are going to sketch it, do not even try to bring it in. Too many accidents waiting to happen.
She shook her head, remembering one painting she had done for her grandfather while still living at home. One of her brother's had tried to move it from the table, not realizing that he had jam on his fingers, and it had been destroyed by the sticky red prints.

"And last but not least, please try not to get discouraged if your project does not turn out right. You always have a chance to try again and the whole point of a class is to practice and broaden your skills.
You have until the end of class to work on your part of the mural.'
And with that, Fern released her students, allowing them to set off to work.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca hurried into the art room, her fiery hair swirling around her from the wind. She paused once inside the door to comb her fingers through it in an attempt to tame it, before stepping over to take a seat besides a tall skinny boy with brown hair and nodding to the teacher apologetically. She listened closely to the teacher explain the mural project and then the rules for the classroom. She grinned when she heard that they could listen to music, as that's what she usually preferred to do when drawing.

Once Ms. Newburry finished speaking, Becca clipped her hair back and pulled out a piece of paper from her bag as well as a pen. Becca's most strong point when drawing was making designs, and she adored celtic designs. She'd studied them quite a bit and ad once taken a class on making her own designs. She immediately decided that this was what she would like to do her part of the mural on, and then decided that she would make a horse, to reflect Blue Ridge's equestrian background. On her paper she began to sketch an outline of an arabian horse, with dramatic curls. Within it she began to draw out celtic knot designs throughout the horse, to portray it's different muscles and its mane and tail. She did this very roughly, just to get a general idea of what she would do on the wall.

Once finished, she placed her pen down on the table and grabbed her paper, walking over to the wall. Picking up a pencil from the gathered supplies, she began to copy out the horse onto the wall working in the bottom right corner of the wall, and making the horse medium sized.

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[Leonardo Jacobs]

Leo ran in fast breath, for once not enjoying a good race. It was most certainly a good race against something quite unbeatable; time. The wind didn’t help either as it blew against him, sending his jelled hair in different directions. Leo didn’t really much care for his hair at the moment however, only the fact he was late for class and he didn’t have a valid excuse. To his relief, a red head had just entered the class room and he was hot on her heels. He gave the teacher a shy, apologetic look before moving to the first seat that came in mind.

Sitting himself down awkwardly next to the redhead, he listened intently to what the teacher had to say as he was able to catch the majority of it. Leo eyes lit in quiet excitement as he realized they would be making a mural. He definitely liked those. Shyly grabbing a piece of paper and pencil out of his backpack, Leo quirked his lips. Figuring out what to draw was always the hardest part for him. Finally he decided on something that connected to him and his agricultural lifestyle back home. Leo made sketch lines, a blur slowly forming into a wheat field, the sun casting across it.

Even without the colors, Leo determinedly shaded, trying to get the effect he wanted of the rays shadowing over the weeping wheat strands dancing in the wind. It had been a long lasting image in his mind, one that pierced him due to the fact he missed his farm so much. Satisfied with the rough sketch, he joined the redhead beside the wall and began to draw his field, deciding on fading it into a circle. He offered the girl a shy smile as he drew, a little self-conscious of what he was making.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose listened to the teacher's instructions closely, head propped on on her hand. She became rather excited when she learned about the mural, and immediately, thoughts began whirling through her head. She was a little bit distracted for the rest of the teacher's introduction, but still listened and mentally took note of all of the rules. She didn't really expect that she'd end up listening to music in this class, as she preferred the background noise of making whatever she was creating. She suspected that with all of the other students working as well, the noises would be rather lovely.

Pulling out a piece of paper and her pencils, she began to sketch lightly. Deciding on one idea, she quickly sketched out a long stemmed rose with a bow tied around the stem. She did so without colors, but once she completed her sketch she made the lines more definitive around the edges and shaded a bit.

Once happy with her plans, she walked over to the far left size of the wall and placed her paper down before bringing a step ladder over as well. Her part of the mural would be rather large, but wouldn't take up a bunch of valuable space. She began to draw the outline of her rose, starting with the bottom of the stem at the bottom and working up to the top, which neared the ceiling. She made the lines soft, wanting them to be nearly invisible later after she'd painted.

[daine6]

Chris grinned when the teacher let them have free reign to draw what they wanted on the mural, and he glanced around at his other classmates, seeing that most of them were sketching out what they planned on drawing on notebook paper before starting the actual drawing on the mural. Chris frowned slightly, shaking his head. He didn't do that, and he hoped it would be ok that he just 'winged it'.

The boy got up from the table, lead pencil in hand, and moved to the furthest corner of the wall and crouched down. He stared off into the distance for a moment, thinking, tapping the pencil against his lips, then his eyes brightened and, with a smirk, he went to work in the small corner of the wall.

Chris glanced at the other students and their drawings, grinning slightly at the artistic peoples in the class, and went back to the designs he was doing. He had always been good at what his sister called 'nonsense art'... drawing designs that were crazy-looking, yet looked a bit like tribal designs. They were his own creation. They had no meanings other than to look interesting and capture ones interest. The boy slowly worked his way from the corner, taking his time and moving in a half-circle fashion so that the designs looked like a sun, rising from the corner of the wall.

[Peter Holden]

Peter listened to the teacher explain the assignment and rules for the class, knowing that they wouldn't be very hard to remember, and most were just basic courtesy. His head began to whir when she stopped speaking, and he sat with his hands folded for a little while before moving over to the wall. There were only five other students, so there was quite a bit of room on the wall. Most worked around the edges, so he took a spot next to Leo, who he recognized from other classes of his, but left quite a bit of room. He was a little left of the center of the wall, and looked over the space in appraisal, as well as the work of other students.

Grabbing a charcoal pencil and T-Square from the supplies, he drew out a rectangle on the shape of a Polaroid photo, and then a square inside. He made one of the corners look as if it was a bit crushed, and rounded it a bit. He was going to paint a picture of a very large Polaroid photo. He wasn't sure when the photo was going to be of yet, but he'd figure it out as he went along.

Satisfied with the outlines for the photograph, he stepped back and looked at it for a moment before picking up his pencil again and getting a piece of paper. He sketched hurriedly for a minute before shaking his head and crumbling the paper. He got a new one and started his sketching over. This time he worked for quite a bit longer, hunched over the table.

Straightening up, he returned to his outline and got his charcoal pencil. He lightly sketched out the outline of the back of a girl from her shoulders up. Her hair was in a french braid and she wore a collared shirt. Once done with the girl, he carefully drew an apple sitting on her head. Smiling, he stepped back once again and looked at it. The image was rather thought provoking and the thought of people wondering about what it could mean made his smile grow.

Done with his outlining and sketching, he walked over to the cans of paint and began to go through them, grabbing a couple of brushes as well.

[Becca Walsh]

Becca only knelt for so long before her thighs began burning and her ankles began to ache. Despite her long days and years of riding, and her regular running, it still became tedious to sit on her toes like she had been, completing the outline of her horse. Standing up, she took a moment to stretch and then walked over to the paints and grabbed a forest green color, as well as a dark chocolate brown. She walked over to her spot by the wall and began to mix the paints to get the color she desired. She used mostly the forest green, but just darkened it with the chocolate brown to create a deep hunter green.

Once satisfied, she got herself a fine, but sharp edged brush, and painted along her outline of the horse. She'd already filled in all of the little details that she'd paint on later, and once she finished the outline, she started on the left side of the horse, near the head, and began to work, filling in the horse, and leaving the twists and knot patterns white. After a while, she had to sit down on her knees, but was still able to work rather efficiently. The painting of the patterns was rather tedious, but she managed to keep herself occupied, though she sort of wished that she'd chosen something with more components.

Once she got past the front legs, she got up and took a step back, pleased with her work so far. Only then did she notice the boy who had begun to work next to her, and returned his smile. He'd sat next to her to hear the rules and instructions earlier, but hadn't been able to say anything to him.

[Leonardo Jacobs]

Leo eyes flickered momentarily to the boy he thought was named Peter from another class he had been in. Shooting the boy a shy smile as well, he focused back on his drawing, taking time to sketch in everything. Taking it to the most detailed stalks he could manage, the boy drew carefully with eyes squinted and hand holding the pencil somewhat loosely and free. Leo liked to have many sketch lines and then erase when he was done. On the wall however, he tried to make it as clear as possible, smudging the pencil at the end to make it appear as if to disappear into the wall.

The field almost looked realistic and he made little notes to himself where to darken his shading of the color and lighten it. Leo then stood back and glanced at it again, before beginning on the sun. He drew a semi-circle, deciding to make the rays with the colors instead of his pencil. The pencil was simply an outline for the real deal. With that, the boy made a small grin and followed the majority of the class to the grab some colors he could mix and play with. Leo took his time choosing, with a light yellow and brown to make the color of wheat, a white and cream to help mix that in as well.

For the sun, Leo grabbed the yellow and dark brown, for the darker shadows and sun’s rays, mixing them efficiently and moving back to his sketch on the wall. He had decided to make the art a bit more realistic than the hard edged outlines and got straight to work. After dabbing and sweeping strokes, Leo narrowed his eyes as he headed into the details. Paint was already on his shirt and hands, even a little on his cheek where he had rubbed it with his paint touched hand. Leo smiled as he blended the circle shape around his painting, blending it into the color of the wall and stepped back to glimpse at it. It looked real enough to jump into and transport right into the field. He nodded slightly to himself, only now allowing himself to search the wall for everyone else’s artwork.