I walked into an oil painting class at the Oak Ridge Art Center with a question that is becoming familiar in this series: Could I do this?

This time, however, I wasn’t the one holding the brush.

I watched, talked, and recorded as a roomful of artists worked at easels and tables, each concentrating on a different painting. Some had years of experience. Others were still developing their skills. What struck me was that everyone was working at his or her own pace.

Students work on individual paintings during Aurora Bull’s Wednesday oil painting class at the Oak Ridge Art Center.

At the center of it all was instructor Aurora Bull.

Bull has been painting in oils since 1968, although her interest in art goes back even further to childhood paint-by-number sets — mostly horses. A neighbor eventually encouraged her to try oils, and she began by sitting on her back porch painting her horses and barn.

Painting eventually became much more than a hobby.

After moving to Tennessee from Florida in 1985, Bull joined the Tennessee Artist Association. Fellow artists began asking her to teach them some of her techniques, launching a teaching career that continues today. She has also participated in juried festivals and exhibitions across the country, earning awards, with her work finding buyers as far away as Germany, Israel, Japan, Pakistan and Venezuela.

Chris Caldwell shared her journey from a blank canvas sitting beside an inspiring image to a finished product.

Hear from Chris Caldwell.

 

 

Bull’s Wednesday morning class at the Oak Ridge Art Center emphasizes fundamentals including shape, value, design and composition before moving into perspective, color mixing and paint application. Students work from their own reference material, and Bull coaches them individually.

That individual attention was easy to see.

Aurora Bull (seated) works individually with a student during an oil painting class at the Oak Ridge Art Center.

Bull teaches beginners as well as advanced painters, and she recommends landscapes and florals as easier starting points for someone new to the medium. She currently teaches five three-hour classes each week.

So, could someone who has never considered herself an artist walk into a class and learn?

Looking around the room made the answer seem much less intimidating.

There was no single painting everyone was expected to reproduce. Students had their own subjects and their own challenges. Bull moved among them, offering guidance as the paintings gradually developed.

One of those works was a blue heron emerging against a dark, watery landscape.

Shirlene Copeland pauses beside her blue heron painting during class at the Oak Ridge Art Center.

Bull’s artistic interests extend far beyond the classroom. Horses remain a favorite subject, and she is certified with the Academy of Equine Art. She has also painted portraits, landscapes and still lifes and has created murals.

Then there is a project that is hard to miss.

Aurora Bull designed the artwork covering the Union County Book Bus, depicting scenes representing the county.

Bull’s students wanted to make sure I knew about that one. She designed the complete Union County Book Bus as a bookmobile featuring different aspects of the county. Earlier in her career, she also created murals for Childhelp USA, a post office and other locations.

One of her student’s whose art I have in my living room is Dana Lamb who said:

” I’ve taken lessons for many years (15?) She is the most patient person you can imagine.  I had audited a figure painting class at UT and played around with painting before I went to her classes.  I always wanted to paint my grandchildren, and one day just said to myself that it was now or never. Painting was therapy for me from the beginning. My dad always painted, and I can remember him going out into the woods in the autumn and spring to sketch.  After I started painting, I felt closer to him and finally “got” how nature must have inspired him.  Even if you have a knack for painting, Aurora teaches things like where on the canvas to put a horizon, where to put shadows, how to make a painting dimensional, etc. One of her specialties is horses—she knows where to put every vein and muscle.  She’s always been around horses and stresses that you paint what you love.”

And perhaps that’s the real answer to this installment of Can I Do It?

You don’t have to walk into the room already knowing how to paint.

You just have to be willing to walk into the room.

Can I do it?

After spending time with Aurora Bull and her students, I think the better question may be: Why not try? That I plan to do starting in her October beginner’s class in Fountain City at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. For more information on how you may get started, contact Aurora at aurorasart@icloud.com.

Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our free newsletter. Comments may be sent to news@knoxtntoday.com.