Page 32 - RADC Bulletin 2022

Jo’s Art Painting & Gallery
After almost a year in a nationwide lockdown Seria Dental Centre organised art painting activity as a team cohesion event. The intention of this was to promote a positive spirit with a view to improve the morale and wellbeing of our team.
The team spent an incredible morning taking part in an oil painting course which provided a rare and unique opportunity to not only bring us together as a team but to also allow us to show off our hidden artistic skills and talents.
We set off in the morning to Bandar to visit a lovely homegrown Art Shop and Gallery. The whole team was quite excited to actually see what this event would involve. There would most likely be different levels of talent and appreciation for art but we all were hoping was that it would be a memorable and worthwhile experience.
When we arrived at the location we
were greeted by the friendliest of staff who provided us with a brief tour of the complex, information on the background of their organisation and reminded us not to forget the complimentary hot local brew and cakes.
They then provided a brief on what we should expect by the end of the course
and explained what oil painting was. There are three main categories of oil paints: traditional oils, alkyd oils and water-mixable oils. These are all composed of pigment and binder. The binder encapsulates and protects the pigment, while also acting as an adhesive by attaching neighbouring particles to each other. The method of application can differ from artist to artist. However, generally oil paint can be applied to the base of one’s choice with almost any instrument including a brush, palette knife and cloth.
The variety of brushes provided was
very impressive, ranging from red sable to weasel hair and ox-hair, as well as a range of synthetic brushes. The support is usually canvas, board, panel, or prepared paper. In our case, the support we were provided with was canvas.
We started to sketch our ideas on the canvas with charcoal or chalk and from this we then built up the paint in layers, between each layer we ensured that the paint was completely dry before applying another layer. This prevented flaking. There were a vast variety of templates/samples pictures to choose from that we had to try our best to replicate. Some in the team went for scenic pictures, while others chose objects. We all then spent the next 2 hours at work on our canvas, and at the end, for a task which seemed so daunting at first, ended up being really so simple yet fulfilling. What was especially interesting about the oils we used were they looked so vibrant. This is because oil paints, unlike acrylic, have more pigment in them, allowing more vivid and rich colours.
At the end of the course, we had all produced a “work of art’,’ which we never thought would have been possible. This gave us a sense of accomplishment, and an extra beautiful piece of art to beautify our homes but most importantly, we got to spend some well-deserved time together as a team.
30 RADC BULLETIN 2022
DEVELOPMENT