Fall Class Schedule for Object Dar't Studios

Classes are starting up again! We are offering fall workshops in a variety of mediums/subjects for non-artisan adults and teens. No experience or artistic abilities required; just the desire and bravery to try! While more classes will be added, we are currently registering:

Mom-n-Me Masterpiece Workshop
A unique experience created to give mothers and their children (ages 5 and up) the opportunity for bonding time through art! Each MASTERPIECE will begin with one person starting the design and the other "adding to it" - passing it back and forth until completed - making it a true creative collaboration! Every person will go home with a beautiful and unusual masterpiece. So come join in for a fun experience filled with laughter, bonding and surprise.  Class price is per person. Must register 2 people. NOTE: $25 supply fee for all materials and supplies paid to instructor at the time of the workshop.

Circle Journal, ©Denyse Dar 2011

Circle Journal (Art Journaling "in the round") Workshop Series 
The idea of circle journals started a long time ago and have probably existed in some form for centuries. The best way to get a sense of the meaning for this type of journal is to think of it as a game of Round Robin - where everyone in the circle gets a turn to do an entry in your album! Each person decides on a theme for their journal and then it is passed to the next person for them to create an original work in your journal based on your theme. A variety of materials are used (the sky is the limit here!) including but not limited to scrap-booking papers, salvaged items and even original drawings & paintings! At the end, a unique journal is returned to you with some amazing creations and in the process, you will have forged some amazing new friendships! NOTE: this class meets for 4 consecutive Fridays in October. NOTE: $40 supply fee for journal and all materials for all 4 weeks - paid to instructor at the first workshop.

Mandala #2, ©Denyse Dar 2011

Mandalas: Meditative Art Workshop
The Mandala (Sanskrit for “circle” or “completion”) has a long history and is recognized for its deep spiritual meaning and representation of wholeness. One of the best ways to understand what Mandalas are about is to make your own. One of the most frequent objections is, "But I'm not an artist... I can't even draw a straight line." This is ideal, because the mandala is built on a circle, not a straight line! Besides, I'm going to help you along the way. When you reach your destination, you will have a representation of something meaningful and personal…a snapshot of you for a brief moment in time expressed through your mandala. $25 supply fee for all materials and handmade paper paid to instructor at the workshop.

Class Options

Mom-n-Me Masterpiece $80.00 Circle Journal (4 week class) $160.00 Mandala's; Meditative Art $80.00

new england paintings

The Landmark Article, "Painting Rutland"

2011-08-04 / Rutland News

Local artist stumbles into creative profession

BY KAITLIN PROVOST

LANDMARK CORRESPONDENT

 

Denyse Dar wasn’t always a painter.Only a year ago, Dar picked up a paintbrush just to have some fun, and ended up creating unique paintings of the town of Rutland and other areas close to her heart.
“I was staying at home with my three kids and I just did it to kind of escape,” she said. “It was such a good outlet for me. I enjoyed it.”

Growing up in Rutland, Dar said she could not wait to get out of town. “I think that happens with a lot of kids,” she said. Dar spent time in Florida, where she attended college and majored in art and computers, combining the two to create a Computer Graphics degree. Dar then lived in Holland, and after a while had a feeling in her stomach, she said, that she should go home.

Five years ago, Dar returned to Rutland and has lived there with her three children since – something she hadn’t fully intended to do. She had been looking at houses closer to the Boston area, but found one for sale in Rutland that she “just knew” was the right one.

“It was just meant to be,” Dar said. “There’s no place like home.”
This attitude is reflected in Dar’s artwork. “What comes through in the paintings is just how much I love this place. I wouldn’t live anywhere else.” Many of Dar’s paintings showcase well-known buildings and landmarks in the Wachusett area, such as Mount Wachusett, the Rutland Common, Princeton Common, and the Mountainside Market in Princeton- which will host Dar’s first gallery showing on Saturday, Aug. 6.

Dar said she was surprised by how well her artwork has spread and been recognized.

“There are two communities in the art world,” she explained. “There is Art with a ‘capital A’ and then other types of artwork that are often and wrongly seen as less.”

Dar’s work is known as “Naïve art,” which classifies art that comes from someone with no formal art training or someone who defies traditional art training.

“This is just doodling,” she said. “[This is] being goofy.” Dar thought galleries would scoff at her paintings because they weren’t what she considered art. She is happy her artwork has been recognized.

“The whole thing has taken on a life of its own,” she said. “I just posted them on Facebook. People watch my page now.” Dar added that all the attention is “a little intimidating” but that she is growing into it.
Dar said her first showing on Saturday will be a test to determine what she will do in the future. She would like to continue painting, and travel to new places to paint their scenery as well. She has started painting some scenes from Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, and hopes to continue.

“It seems like a lot of people who see my paintings, it makes them happy.happy I enjoy that,”that ” she said, adding that she received an email from one woman who said Dar’s paintings made her want to ‘roll down a hill and laugh like a goon.”

“What I’ve painted is what I feel,” Dar said. “The art’s grown a lot and so has my selfconfidence.”
Dar’s art show, “DARing Color,” at Mountainside Market in Princeton, will take place Saturday, Aug. 6, 3-5 p.m. Complimentary wine will be served, and Dar said the event will be “offbeat and fun.” For more information, visit objectdar.com.

August 19th NAME THAT WORK Contest Results

©Denyse Dar, Alpine Sunset 2011. 11x17 watercolor on 140lb Arches

WE HAVE A WINNER for the latest "NAME THAT WORK" contest. Thank you to everyone who participated!!! The enthusiasm for my work and your willingness to participate in the creative process, makes this more than just "art." There is another contest running which was posted today. I hope you'll check it out and consider submitting whatever thoughts the painting inspires!

Here are the submissions I received through the fan page:

Jessica Rollins Mercier "The Hills Are Alive"

Sherri Stakes "Euphoria"

Jessica Rollins Mercier "Ahhh-chartreuse"

Michael Boulay "Rolling Happiness"

JoAnne Pryce Bedard "Alpine sunset"

Janet Sarro-Gonzalez "Trix-ville"

Lori Guenoun "Strawberry Fields (Forever)"

Lisa Mendez Boutotte Ribbons

 

 

And the winner is JoAnne Pryce Bedard with "Alpine Sunset." Congratulations JoAnne, you have won a print of any one of my paintings. You can view the entire catalog of my work here (http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/objectdar.html) to make your selection. Please contact me with your choice and I'll deliver it hand signed with my thanks!

DARing Color Opening Reception

The Wagon Wheels performed acoustically and were AMAZING!

 The DARing Color reception was a great success! Many thanks to all who attended to show support or purchased work. Truly, I couldn't have asked for OR dreamed up a better first show. Many of my friends came and yet I made some new friends - people who just happened into the store and loved my work.  

The highlight of the reception for me - my high school Algebra teacher, Mrs. Komenda, came by the MSM. Best moment EVER to catch up with her after 25+ years and steal a hug from her! She's still as fabulous as ever. She's just one of those people that you can't help but smile and feel good around. Thanks Mrs. K.  

Limited Edition (unframed) prints in both 11x17 and 8x10 are available

 For those of you who didn't make the opening but still wish to buy my work, the show will be up at the MSM through the end of September. I encourage you to take a ride through bucolic Princeton on a sunny day and take the sights in - you won't be disappointed!

Cat & Dog wine tasting....Longue Dog (white) was a real hit!

 I'd like to thank Jill and Kyle Zelley for being gracious hosts. Jill served Marionberry Torte which disappeared quicker than Houdini. It was so yummy, I took a tub home!

Longtime friends, Brian and Gina Fluery, are constantly encouraging me. Thank you both!

My BFFs came out in full force which helped keep my nerves in check.

As the reception wrapped up....

It was a great day. I admit - I crashed the next day. All the excitement and rush caught up with me the way only a "big day" could but even God rested on the 7th day so why not me too? ;)

SOLO SHOW

The time has finally come! My first solo show is here. Tomorrow afternoon at 3pm, is the Opening Reception for my "DARing Color" show at the Mountainside Market in Princeton. It promises to be fun and funky - just like my artwork. My friends, Kale and Dave Getman, will be playing live music with their band, The Wagon Wheels. And MSM will be serving Cat & Dog wines. The weather forecast is showing perfect temperatures and clear skies. I couldn't ask for any better for my first show (or even my last for that matter.)

I have to be honest though, there's a part of me that is scared stiff. The "first" of anything usually gives a human being the jitters so I know I'm not unusual in this aspect. Artwork is intensely personal so having out there on display is intense. But I'm also terrifically excited. It all feels like I'm embarking on a new life! A life that I have created for myself. In my 20's and 30's, much of my life was adapted to fit around the world that surrounded me - people I loved, jobs I held, etc. So it feels amazing to be 40+ and survey my life to see that the world around me has adapted to ME. Not only that but that the world did it willingly!! lol Ironic really given the number of years I wrestled and struggled. I'm sure someday hindsight will be 20/20 and I'll figure out how this came to be but for the moment, I want to believe that it is the natural byproduct of letting go and just doing what feels right to the heart - world be damned.

I have to acknowledge that many hands have carried me this past year. There have been so MANY people - some friends, some complete strangers (that I now call friend) - who just seemed to sweep up behind me and push me along whether I wanted to move or not. In my mind, I was just goofing around enjoying myself and the mental break from the 24/7 job of "Mother". Other people just seemed to have a different idea about what I was doing. They took it far more seriously than I did and it took quite a bit for them to convince me. Thank God they did.   

I'd like to also thank Jill Zelley for loving my work so much that she would reach out to a complete stranger (me) to invite them to have their own show. I'm honored, grateful and truly humbled that my work resonated with her so much that she used exclamation points after almost every sentence. She has literally changed my life and I hope someday I can put those exclamation points into her life.

I hope to see you tomorrow to share a good time, deep belly laughs and some wacky paintings!