slaying the dragons of disease:
painting yourself toward recovery
instructed by janet mego
Painting is lots of fun, but it can be a powerful weapon as well. Join Janet Mego for a six-hour weekend filled with ideas and techniques geared toward coping with mental or physical illness through creating art.
Janet is an experienced teacher and painter, also in Recovery from two deadly diseases diagnosed within the past five years. Most recently a breast-cancer survivor, Janet has also battled Serious Depression and the addiction that can result from self-medication: “Painting, along with the need to connect with fellow sufferers, has been a godsend for me in surviving both of these illnesses, along with coping with the grief of losing my father between the two illnesses.”
In this class you will explore techniques useful in developing personal themes and symbols that can be applied to color and design. You will produce a painting reflecting these elements of design, elements inspiring you to eventually produce a series of paintings on your own. As an option, you may also receive some instruction on writing poetry to pair with your painting.
his is NOT a class in which everyone paints the same thing. Janet especially enjoys individualizing her instruction and tailoring it to each student’s personal needs. She will be demonstrating her own paintings for the class to provide examples and inspire ideas. Students will need to supply their own supplies.
This class is for students 18+. Some painting experience with a preferred medium is required for adults. Those adults wanting to take this class but lacking experience should take a class in beginning watercolors, oils, or acrylics as a per-requisite.
​
Needed Supplies:
-Drawing supplies (several pencils of varying hard-to-soft lead, eraser, drawing paper)
-appropriate surfaces for watercolors or acrylics such as watercolor block or 11X14 or larger canvas
-a variety of tubes of paint
-some good quality brushes (including one or two with tapered edges)
-water containers
-tissue or paper for blotting
This class has a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 12. If the class does not meet the minimum, participants will be refunded.
​
This class has a minimum of four and a maximum of 12.
​
Please email Mary Bell, Program Director, at mbell@kentuck.org with any questions.
​
Kentuck workshops are non-refundable after the registration closes. If you would like to cancel before the deadline passes, please email mbell@kentuck.org or call 205-758-1257. If the class does not meet the minimum by the registration deadline and the workshop is cancelled, all participants will be refunded their registration fees.
details:
Dates: February 3-4, 2024
Times: 1-4 PM both days
Location: Kentuck Art Center's Georgine Clarke Building classroom
Tuition: $75; Participants supply supplies
Experience Level: Some painting experience needed
​
Needed Supplies:
-Drawing supplies (several pencils of varying hard-to-soft lead, eraser, drawing paper)
-appropriate surfaces for watercolors or acrylics such as watercolor block or 11X14 or larger canvas
-a variety of tubes of paint
-some good quality brushes (including one or two with tapered edges)
-water containers
-tissue or paper for blotting
“I’ve been fascinated with crows, and painting them, since I sought Recovery from my mother’s death in 2012. I was very close to her, and she was a good storyteller. Years before, she’d told me stories of her father’s close relationship with animals, including his pet crow. They later became symbols of strength, intelligence, creativity, and survival to me, although I haven’t articulated their symbolism in my work until recently. Since my breast cancer diagnosis, other symbols, such as specific types of flowers and dancers, have taken shape in my work, almost of their own accord it seems.” -Janet Mego
This workshop is sponsored in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Meet the Instructor
Janet Mego
​
I have been compelled to draw, paint, and sculpt since I was six years old. From the first grade upward, after earning first place in a juried show in the first grade, and later receiving recognition for my early artistic endeavors in Baltimore, Maryland, I then earned a BFA in Art at the University of Alabama. Much of what I do has been influence by the fine art of “learning to see”, implemented masterfully by those professors essential in taking me far beyond the face value of that degree. I’m graced in this regard by having studied with Professors Alvin Sella, Richard Zoellner, and Arthur Oakes.
​
After graduation, I began working with watercolor portraiture and continued to exhibit pieces in galleries and patron’s homes in several counties throughout Alabama. Placing in juried shows and exhibitions concomitant with my tenure as Artist in Residence for the Sumter County Fine Arts Council in the 1980s, and as adjunct art instructor for Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama), I continued to explore the intricacies of the human face and its expression of emotion. Concomitantly, I felt a spiritual awareness of the beauty of nature creep from my soul into the watercolors that had become my favorite medium. Later, I rediscovered and applied the acrylic paints I’d used in college to canvas and to a more abstracted interpretation of trees, of water, of sky, and of terrain.
​