Art and painting lessons at home in Glen Ridge, NJ

Drawing the town you know

Most art teachers like to start with something close by. In Glen Ridge, that might be the gas lamp at the end of your front walk. Lamps are a nice first subject: simple shapes, a clear light source, and a lot to learn about shadow. After that, a porch, a doorway, a neighbor's turret.

Glen Ridge's gas lamps go back to the early years of the borough, and many of the ones lining the streets now were salvaged and restored after other cities threw theirs away. That history makes them fun to draw. You're not just sketching a lamp, you're sketching the thing people picture when they think of Glen Ridge.

Watercolor and the Glen

Watercolor suits Glen Ridge's leafy streets and old brick. A teacher can show you how to lay down a wash of sky, let it dry, and build up the trees in a few layers. It's slower than people expect, which is part of the pleasure.

The Glen, the wooded strip along Toney's Brook with the bike path and gazebo by Bloomfield Avenue, is a good place to take reference photos. So is the 1926 Freeman Parkway Bridge, a stone arch over the brook and the train line. Snap a photo on a walk, bring it to the next lesson, and paint from it at the kitchen table.

Who it suits

Art lessons fit someone who likes to sit and focus for an hour. They're also a good outlet for a parent who is less mobile than they used to be, since everything happens at the table. And they're good for people who used to draw, years ago, and want a reason to start again.

The Glen Ridge Senior/Community Center runs an art program, and some people like doing both: the group class for the social side, and one on one at home to really work on technique.

Booking

Teachers set their own hourly rate from $50 to $150, and you can book 1, 1.5 or 2 hour visits. Ask in a message whether they bring paper, paints and brushes, since most do. Book a single lesson or four weeks at the same time to give it a fair try. After each visit, the teacher writes a short note the family can read, and some families ask for a photo of the week's drawing too.