Gallery Sitting and Mentoring Go Hand and Hand

      According to Webster’s Dictionary a mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.  At RFAA mentoring has a similar but somewhat broader application.  Every Friday and Saturday, members “Gallery Sit” to provide open hours for guests to view the current show  in our Gallery at 9100 Fouts Road in Roswell Georgia.  At first glance the concept of gallery sitting sounds pretty dull, kind of like watching paint dry, but for our members it is an opportunity to share what we love best – making art and talking about it.  Members who are less experienced are often sitting with more experienced artists and it’s the perfect opportunity to find out how to do something.  If several more experienced artists are painting together they might have an impromptu critique session, another form of mentoring.  More often than not, looking at the work of others’ inspires all of those present to try something they hadn’t considered doing before.  Members often invite their friends to come paint with them, creating a new outlet for an artist who might have previously only painted alone. The prospect of sitting with a person you haven’t met is another positive that creates relationships  that might otherwise not have happened.  When a group starts a dialogue, painters might share places they’ve been that were wonderful for plein air (outdoor) painting or talk about workshops they’ve taken and what they learned.  Regardless of how the conversation starts or where it leads, there are so many things to be gained from painting together and sharing our expertise and our delight in discovery with one another.  Members, if you haven’t signed up to gallery sit, don’t miss one of the best experiences about being a part of Roswell Fine Arts Alliance.  To sign up visit http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054BAFAB2CA3F85-gallery