An artist discussing his work and favorite mediums.

Art 4 Pat's Place

At TAP, a portion of our proceeds is donated to programs which support children. I am glad to say that this year we will be supporting Pat's Place. One of our TAP alumni, Meghan Brown, has earned her Gold Award by working with Pat's Place. This organization is the only child advocacy center in Mecklenburg County serving children from birth to age 18. What is cool about our support this year is that we will be supporting the organization with our art.

Our student artists will be able to donate one, or more, of their pieces to be displayed at Pat's Place! We thank Meghan for her work and the opportunity she has provided to us in order to support such an important organization.

New Summer 2012 TAP Sessions!

Summer - here we come! Are you ready for another great art session at TAP? We sure are! Join us for two sessions this summer.
Session I - June 25th - acrylic/oil painting and figure drawing
Session II - July 16 - group painting and double canvas painting
And, of course, we round out each session with our own "gallery crawl."
Cost: $125 per session/$30 deposit which goes toward the cost of the program. Snacks/drinks provided

Email me at: jab006@windstream.net to register or ask questions.

Session I - June 2011

What a fun and productive session we had! The students did some awesome pieces. First, we worked on drawings using a grid. We then moved on to our "mystery" sculpture piece. Finally, we took one of our drawings and blew it up to become our acrylic/oil mixed medium piece.

The students worked so hard and even sketched during their snack and lunch breaks. The gallery show was a hit too! (We had enough goodies for the patrons and the artists.) We are hoping to offer another session this summer and will keep you posted.

As always, thank you so much for your support and continue to encourage the amazing creative talents your children possess! Regards, Brennan, Joyce and Pam

Summer 2011

The school year goes by faster and faster each year - doesn't it? Welcome to TAP 2011! We had such a good response to our line-to-line drawing last year and were asked to have more drawing activities. So...

This year we will use the grid method in our approach to drawing. The students will be simply amazed with their drawings. We will also turn these drawings in to pen/ink renditions. Finally, based on their favorite drawing, the artists will create a mixed media piece using acrylic and oil. OOOOOOHHHH!

As always, our focus is to allow the children to enjoy the creative process while in a relaxed, non-cookie-cutter environment. Email us at: jab006@windstream.net to sign up! Best Regards, Joyce, Brennan and Pam

Summer 2010 Review

Hello! We had two great sessions of TAP this summer. Thanks to the children who worked so hard and to the parents who generously shared their children with us. The students worked on line-2-line drawing and drawing what you see. They had AMAZING results! By slowing down and really focusing on how the lines relate to each other, the children were able to draw things beyond their imagination. We also had fun with our mixed medium piece and what would we do without a little Jackson Pollock technique? (Who doesn't enjoy spatter painting??) We will keep you posted on new classes and remember to TAP in to your creativity! (We all have it, you know!) Best regards, Pam and Joyce

Summer Sessions for 2010

Welcome to old and new T.A.P. friends! We are excited to tell you about our programs for this summer:
Session I - June 21 - June 25 - McGarry/Baker "Studio"
Session II - July 19 - July 23 - Wingard "Studio"
Time: 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (Students are also welcome to stay after class for unstructured studio time.)

We will be working on our drawing skills and using the relationship between lines and spaces. We will also create a really cool, multi-media piece on canvas. Finally, the artists get to play a little with tub dyeing on a banner or cafe' apron.

As always, our main goal it to HAVE FUN and to create some awesome artwork in the process!! Hope to see you soon! Regards, Joyce and Pam

Session II 2009 Review

Take a look at the pictures - need we say more? The students did a great job of putting their personal touch on a multi-panel lighthouse piece. As artists and parents, what is so enjoyable to experience is how each student made their piece unique by their use of color, composition and canvas layout. We also had a great time at the Mint Museum of Craft and Design. The students especially liked the glass pieces at the museum and work by Dale Chilhuly. We have finished our sessions for the summer but are working on future programs. Please check back for upcoming sessions! Best regards, Pam and Joyce

Session I Review

What a FANTASTIC first session! Students were challeneged to try some new techniques incorporating abstract and layering. (Check out the website for Amy Cheng, one of our "Artists of the Day" at: http://www.amychengstudio.com/ for our inspirations.) The students worked extremely hard this session and had lots of fun too. They worked on a couple of abstract color mixing pieces, a paint-with-your-brush/layering piece and their multi-panel piece. Enjoy the pictures of some of our very talented TAP students! Stay tuned for more fun pictures and creative results from our second session which starts July 13th.

Summer 2009 Programs

Welcome back to the third year of T.A.P.! Due to the numerous requests from our students and parents, we are pleased to announce we will have 3 programs this summer.

Session I - June 29 - July 3
9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Students may also stay afterward for unstructured studio time.)

We will be working on monochromatic painting to better understand shading, drawing with brushes and painting in layers. Students will also take pictures and then create a multi-panel abstract piece. Both sessions will include outdoor painting, a museum trip and our famous T.A.P. gallery review at the end of the session. (There is also "studio time" after class if the students wish to continue working on projects.)

Session II - July 13 - July 17 all ages
In this session, students will put their personal touch on a multi-panel lighthouse landscape. We will also continue to work on painting in layers and create an abstract portrait.

As always, we provide quality supplies, yummy treats - and - did we mention - tons of fun!

The cost is $125/week with a $30 non-refundable deposit which is applied to the cost of the class.
Email us at JAB006@windstream.net to register.

Remember class size is limited! Enjoy your summer and "TAP" in for some creative fun! Love, Pam and Joyce

Summer 2008 Review

"AWESOME!" Just one of the comments to describe TAP's summer camp this year. We started off with a discussion of drawing and shading which lead to our first still life project. The artists did a minimum of four works on canvas.

During the week, we also visited the Mint Museum for a tour and inspiration. We went to Squirrel Creek park where we did plein air painting - and some playing too! We finished the week with a gallery show in which the students presented their pieces describing their inspiration, title of piece and medium.

We have had requests for more camps throughout the Fall and Summer and we hope to fill those requests. Thanks to all of our wonderful students and parents who have joined us so far and who have made TAP such fun and such a success! Regards, Pam and Joyce

New 2008 Summer Classes

Summer classes for T.A.P. - Monday through Friday, June 23 - June 27, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
We will be introducing more plein air painting this session. Throughout the week we will be doing projects using oils, acrylics and clay. Another addition to the session will be "studio" time. This will be non-instructional free time for the budding artists to work on projects and to let their creative juices flow. Just like in past sessions, we guarantee fun, creativity and yummy snacks! Please join us!

T.A.P. - The Artistic Playground