El Camino Artists in Action
By Craig Trapp
El Camino Art Association’s mission of promoting art, especially with local teens, is a mission Jim Farmer has taken personally.
Near the end of last year, Jeff Lahr, art instructor at Paulding Middle School in the Lucia Mar School District, asked if anyone would be interested in assisting his painting classes. Jim quickly volunteered. To date, Jim has assisted with 2 classes and is planning more.
On April 21st I accompanied Jim to Paulding Middle School to observe his assisting the watercolor class. On this day the class was painting en plein aire. You can imagine a group at this age would be a challenge to keep focused, but all the students were intent on learning how to use their watercolor while painting the day’s subject; a tree. It was a joy to see these students relating with Jim, responding to his suggestions, and experimenting with, what was for many, a new form of expression. Mr. Lahr commented to Jim that the students were better behaved than usual, and attributed that to Farmer’s presence.
These classes are relatively short, less than an hour, but many of the images were fully composed and painted. At the end of class, some did not want to put their brushes down. (Most of us can relate to the frustration of having to stop just when you get rolling!) It was obvious Jim enjoyed the opportunity to work with the students, and the students obviously appreciated Jim’s expertise. Quite a few of the students thanked Jim personally for his assistance.
These middle school students are potentially future El Camino Art Association Student Scholarship winners. Jim Farmer, thank you for encouraging our local youth with your selfless giving of your time and talents.