by Arlene Wright-Correll

This weekís Kentucky artist is Jef Dirig Revisited

How many times have you said I wish I knew how to draw? How many times have you said I wish I knew how to paint? Most people who make those statements make them to artists thinking that every artist was born with this art talent. However, art is like anything else that one can learn. It takes practice, drill and rehearse every day, day in day out, even if it is only 30 minutes a day just like playing the piano or playing basketball.

Right here in our area we have many talented artists and painters. Some get together to share ideas and critiques. Some get together to learn from each other and some get together when one of the better of the group decides to teach what they know. This is what is happening in Glasgow at Jef Dirigís studio with afternoon and evening class each Thursday which started January 17, 2008. Class hours are 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Participants are welcome and encouraged to attend either or both classes and once a month Jef will be having a general critique of students’ ongoing projects.

Jef Dirig is a highly talented painter and a very good teacher. If one was taking private lessons from this man one could expect to pay a minimum of $25.00 an hour and here was 2.5 hours for only $20.00 per session and if one paid a month ahead of time the price went down to a ridiculous $50.00 for a whole month of classes. Plus the 1st week was free! It canít get any better than this, I thought, so I headed over there with my good friend, Patti Griffin of Bonnieville, who is an extremely talented china painter. Patti said she was so pleased to have someone close by because she had spent years driving every week to Louisville for lessons.

We arrived at Jefís studio just as the afternoon class was breaking up and we saw some nice work in acrylics by some of the students. I had brought my watercolors not knowing what to expect. However, Patti was interested in learning how to draw better and for me this became the most wonderful evening I have experienced art-wise in a long time.

Jef taught us a valuable lesson in “drawing without looking at your paper”. Can you imagine? Here is how it went. He put about 4 things on the table; a clock on a deer horn stand, a small toy horse, a wooden crab, a magnifying glass on a stand and a large plant on another table. The object was to put your sketch pad on your lap, look at any object and start drawing what you saw without lifting your pencil from your paper or looking at your paper and do it in 90 seconds. I choose the back of the deer horn clock because this is what I was looking at.

Here is my 90 second .

Next we did the same exercise, the same way only with the timer set at 3 minutes.

Here is my 3 minute result .

Then Jef had us do the same object with the timer set at 6 minutes and we were allowed to look at the object and to lift our pencil from the paper.

Here is my 6 minute result.

It was starting to look like the back of the clock!

I had never done an exercise like this before and Jef said if you did something like this during every TV commercial by looking at something in your room such as a plant, that one would develop a drawing technique that would connect from ones brain to oneís hand. He went on to say that the key was not to look at your paper at first because once you did your hand and brain disconnected and he proved it with what he was doing with his 90 second plant drawing.

Both Patti and I felt we came away with a good bit of knowledge, plus the fact that we know we were going to learn a good deal more, plus it was a fun evening of sharing.

Since the last time I had been to Jef Dirigís studio, which he is constantly remodeling, he has added a whole professional framing studio to his basement and was in the process of framing a local photographerís whole photographic works that was being sent out of state to some museum in Maine. Also he is now able to do Giclee prints for other artists at only $6.00 a square foot whereas most places in Bowling Green and Louisville charge $12.00 to $15.00 a square foot.

Being able to study with Jef Dirig is a pleasure besides having the price affordable, we get to see the wonderful paintings he is working on and that alone is worth the time and trip. So the next time you say “I wish I could paint or draw”, do something about it because anyone can learn if one wants to and Jef Dirigís studio is the place to go to learn! For more information call him at 270 646 6620 today!

(Contact Arlene Wright-Correll at 270 524 9567 or email her at askarlene@scrtc.com  if you want to be next weekís column of Whoís Who in KY Artís and Crafts)