Studio Etiquette

STUDIO ETIQUETTE

1. This is a safe place to learn, try, create, experiment and express.
2. No negative words to yourself or others.
3. Keep judgments for the courtroom. No judging here (self, or other people, or yours or others' art).
4. If you love someone's art, say it. If you don't, either be quiet, or FIND something in it to love.
5. The same goes for your own art.
6. Try to keep your thoughts positive. Self talk is EVERYTHING in your art.
7. Listen carefully to the teacher, like a respectful grasshopper, and watch closely, like a hawk.
8. Keep your mind OPEN while learning. Be like an excited child who loves to learn.
9. Be kind to your Inner Child.
10. Take lots of notes so you can remind yourself later.
11. Use your eyes, mind, pencil and brush rather than relying on a camera. Paint your own references.
12. Respect other people's art everywhere you go, by never taking a picture without permission. Choose to be inspired, then create your own art, rather than taking a photo of someone else's.
13. Common sense & copyright: don’t copy or share teaching materials, or take photos of any teacher’s art. When sharing your class paintings on Facebook, it is appropriate to give credit by linking back to the teacher’s page.
14. Replace negative thoughts with a positive affirmation. Say it out loud.
15. Banish in your mind the voices of people in your life before who may have been negative towards you or your art. They are banished from this place.
16. In between classes, and during classes, remember it is all about the MILES in the brush (or pencil).
17. Do not touch other people's art.
18. Make your own decisions about your own art. Do not rely on others for creative decisions.
19. Never tell anyone else what they should do with their art.
20. Respect the health boundaries of everyone in class. If you are sick, please do not come to class. We’d rather you stayed home and got better. It’s a violation of another person’s health boundaries to make them ill without their choosing.
21. There are no "Should"s in this place, only kindness.

Studio Safety

1.  Paint pigments are toxic. Beware! 
2. Do not lick brushes, breathe in pastel dust, breathe in varnish or solvent fumes.
3. Keep your lungs safe.
   Do not blow pastel dust, use only odourless oil solvent, do not spray varnish.
4. Dryers do not mix with water buckets - keep them far away from one another.
   An instinctive reaction if a dryer drops into a bucket is to instantly grab for it, without even thinking!
5. Keep drinks on a separate table from your painting area.
   It is too easy to dip paintbrushes into a mug of tea, or drink a jar of turps or dirty paint water. I know of someone who was hospitalised after drinking turps.
6. Do not be afraid to let someone know if you see a danger around them.
7. Be ready to use the fire extinguisher (pull pin, aim, squeeze).
8. Note where the fire blanket is kept.
9. Be aware of where the first aid kit is.
10. Keep the floor clear of things to trip over.
11. When standing to paint, push your stool under the table.

Studio Courtesy

1.  Treat your painting space gentle respect
2. Be careful washing acrylic and watercolour paints down the sink. If you have a greywater system, or treatment plant (bio system) it will clog the pump and you’ll have to replace it.
   If you are on mains water, the chemicals in the paints can end up in creeks and rivers and kill plants, fish, birds and animals — definitely not good!
   Consider washing the brushes and tools in a big bucket of water, then rinse in a second bucket. Then tip the buckets out in our garden so the soil and gravel filters it and grabs it.