New Art Instructor At Senior Center

By Nancy K. Crevier

Seniors met with the new art instructor Linda Casey at the Newtown Senior Center on Thursday, February 9. Ms Casey is a Brookfield artist with many years of experience in various fields of art.

On Thursday, she presented the seniors with a plethora of thoughts on recycling materials for the creation of valentine cards. Beautiful borders can be harvested from holiday cards and from many of the loose subscription cards that fall out of magazines, she pointed out. Magazines and catalogs are a rich source of colorful patterns, as are the linings of security envelopes. The tiny floral and geometric designs used inside of envelopes can be combined into a sort of calico pattern, said Ms Casey, and then used as a background on a card.

Sturdy foil wrappers from plants and vintage gift wrap should not be overlooked to brighten card fronts and even decorative napkin designs can be cut out and added to a card for a unique look, so long as care is taken in handling the delicate paper. “If it gets wet,” she warned, “it will absolutely disintegrate.”

The Sunday comics are another wonderful resource for recycling into cards, said Ms Casey. The panels consisting of only pictures with no script can be cut out and pasted onto a card. They provide a terrific opportunity to insert a personal message, she said.

Ms Casey also demonstrated how retired decks of cards could evolve into pocket-sized messages of endearment when painted, covered in decorative wrap, or turned into a collage of cut out pictures and patterns. A special message tag is then hung from a shiny ribbon threaded through a punched hole at the base of the card, and the card is ready for giving.

Following Ms Casey’s presentation, the seniors designed valentines destined for soldiers stationed overseas.

Ms Casey will lead art classes at the Newtown Senior Center every Thursday at 1 pm.