Art & Sip, a guided painting experience under the
watchful eye of local artist, Lavannia Kumar, is part of #ArtAtAmari, a Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) project by Amari Johor Baru in partnership with local creative
individuals and organizations.
 |
| My Art & Sip experience with #ArtAtAmari |
Since February, Lavannia or Lava in short, had
been conducting two sessions in the evenings on Fridays and Saturdays at the
Amari JB with groups of up to 10 people who enjoyed a fun and relaxing time with
painting while sipping on a glass of wine, cocktail or mocktail.
When I met Lavannia recently at the
#ArtAtAmari event, the young artist reminded me that we previously met in 2017
when I was at the DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Baru to recce the event hall for
my book launch event.
She was then attached to the hotel’s Sales
Department, in charge of my event for the launch of My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage and she told me that she even bought my
book and had it autographed by me!
 |
| An Art & Sip experience guided by artist, Lavannia Kumar |
It was awkward and embarrassing (for me!) because I failed
to recall this, but I was pleased that she had taken the bold step to leave her
career with the hotel to pursue her passion in art.
Art & Sip is a fun workshop activity for art
amateurs like me to have a go at painting with step-by-step guidance from Lava
and would I feel more confident with the artist on hand to guide amateurs to
achieve better results.
It was already mid-March when I finally joined the Art
& Sip one evening, in a second session set up in a private section of the
Amaya Food Gallery.
Lava warmly welcomed me in and let me choose my spot among
the easels set up with blank canvases in a semi-circle.
 |
| My blank canvas with the reference painting set up in front |
As she told me about the previous session that she had
with a large group of participants, she mentioned that this would be a small
group – just me and another couple.
I was (privately!) pleased because then Lava could
then divide her attention among fewer participants.
When Paul and Johana arrived, and we were invited to put
on our aprons and to look at the beverage menu to place our order with the
waiter, for a choice of drinks.
For this Art & Sip session, Lava had set up a
completed painting on an easel in front of us for reference.
 |
| Just follow instructions to add paint according to the artist's instruction |
It was painted in a background of shades of blue to
black with outlines of two wine glasses superimposed on it and heart-shaped
freehand strokes drawn against the blue background into the two glasses which
were tipped toward each other.
Next to this she had a blank canvas to show us,
step-by-step how to add colours to create the effects so that we would
ultimately achieve the completed version.
Lava assured us that we did not have to create the
exact copy of her painting, but it was only a visual reference and we were free
to adjust our versions to express our artistic individuality…
I was more than ready to start our painting experience
and listened closely as Lava guided us to use which brush, which paint colour,
which colour to mix with which for a lighter shade, and even the way in which
to sweep a stroke across the canvas for the best effect.
Holding the palette and paintbrush in each hand gave
me a flashback to my schooldays, which was probably when I last did any
painting.
 |
| Adding in shades of Blue to the background |
Lava explained that we were using acrylic paints and
discussed its effect on the canvas while she demonstrated the recommended way
to use the paintbrush.
With painting my own nails as my most recent painting
experience, this acrylic painting on canvas with Lava was an all-new but fun experience
for me.
I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but Lava was
gentle and encouraging when she saw my canvas.
We know art is subjective and there was no right or
wrong way to express one’s art.
Then as more colour was added to the canvas, an image
started to form.
 |
| The completed background colours on my canvas |
And when Lava said that if I did not want my painting
to look too dark and that I can use more shades of blue and less black, I felt
confident to adjust my colours and continued to paint my canvas quite
comfortably.
When the background was completed, we paused to allow
the paint to dry before moving to the next step – tracing on the outlines of
the two wine glasses.
So absorbed was I with the painting that I had almost
forgotten about my glass of Halle Berry, a chilled mocktail topped with
berries and (melting) ice chips.
This brief break was an opportunity to chat and enjoy
sips of my refreshing drink.
 |
| Ta da!! My painting completed with background of fireflies and a sparkle where the wineglasses meet! |
This was also my chance to be a busybody and peek at the
other participants’ work because Lava had encouraged Paul and Johana to create
a double-canvas by painting one wine glass on each of their canvases.
When Lava confirmed that my canvas was dry and ready
to be painted on, I traced the outlines of the wineglasses and painted it
Yellow.
The most challenging bit was yet to come.
Then I was encouraged to draw the heart shape using
free-hand strokes!
Once again, Lava reminded that my drawing need not be
exactly as the reference and this prompted to draw my heart shape smaller than
that in her reference painting.
 |
| So pleased with my experience to paint like a pro with Lavannia Kumar! |
Before the final bit – creating a sparkle on the spot between
the two wineglasses – Lava showed us how to use the fine tip of the small
paintbrush to dot “stars” in the night sky.
I thought I followed her instructions quite closely,
but my stars somehow turned out to look nothing like her stars but mere blobs
of paint…
The ever-encouraging Lava took one look at my
rendition of “stars” and agreed with me that instead of shining stars, my dots
in the sky looked more like fireflies!
Art & Sip is a fun and relaxing time for amateurs
to explore and discover their artistic gifts under the gentle guidance of a
self-taught artist.
Thanks Lava, for the experience to paint like a pro
with your help (I have my completed canvas as proof!) but I think I should
stick to writing.
For more information and reservations for your own Art
& Sip experience, visit Facebook page, Art by Lavannia Kumar, Email:
lavannia_kumar@hotmail.com or Tel: +6016 739 2592
Priced at RM150 per person or RM280 for a couple, that
includes art supplies and one glass of house wine, cocktail or mocktail. The
Onyx Hospitality Group Foundation will benefit with 5% from the proceeds.
Amari
Johor Baru is at No. 82-C Jalan Trus, 80000 Johor Baru.
No comments:
Post a Comment