Did I mention...?

That my little community college non-credit art class had homework? And that I figured out why the classes are reasonably priced?

Why are they affordable? Because they have to be in order for students to be able to pay for all of the materials! A few weeks ago, Ronnie went to pick up a materials list for me. And I went out and bought all manners of paints in colors whose names I can't pronounce, papers, gesso (why this can't be pronounced with a hard 'g' is beyond me), brushes, a plastic palette, a palette knife and a few other items on the list. And the first day at class, the teacher tells us that she has a new materials list, most of which is similar enough to the one nearly all of us picked up in advance, but not quite. But in addition to bigger paper, she wanted us to buy retarder. I just think there should be a different word for it.

And I haven't done my homework yet, which was to paint a color wheel and then tint and shade the colors. Maybe tomorrow.

But today, since there were coupons in the paper yesterday for Michael's (the craft store), I figured I'd start there to see if they had the additional supplies. I figured even if things were a little more expensive, my 40% off coupon should balance things out a bit.

But here's the thing about Michael's, you can get lost in there. This is where people with multiple personality disorders lose their time. Seriously. I knew exactly what I was looking for. And yet, an hour later, I walked out with one item, but realized I was now familiar with silk flower arranging, make-your-own candle supplies, and all matters of Halloween crafts. And yet all I bought was a $.69 2" paint brush to gesso (don't forget the soft 'g'!) the big paper I still had to go buy!

Real art stores are more intimidating than craft stores, but the staff are much friendlier. Or maybe it's my look of complete ignorance that send people my way before I mess things up too much....