OXFORD – Above Nate Gross’ guitar studio at 4 North Canal Street in Oxford, Caitlin Barrett sits in her own studio and paints. The walls of the small space are lined with her work, and in the middle rests a large, blank canvas practically begging for the young artist’s attention.
Unfortunately, it will have to wait because Barrett is busy trying to focus on two other projects right now: a series of murals she’s painting on commission for Roma’s Pizzeria owner Mike Barone and ironing out the details for the youth art lessons she’ll be giving this summer.
“I stretched it right before I started the mural project,” Barrett explained, referring to the canvas taking up prime real estate in her tiny atelier. She’s making good progress though, having already finished two of the four murals she has planned for Roma’s.
“It’s my first big mural project, but I’m really enjoying it,” Barrett said. She will certainly seek out similar commission work in the future, she added, even though, by her own admission, the sweeping landscapes she’s painting to fit the Italian restaurant’s theme are something of a departure from her usual subject matter.
“I mostly do abstract work,” she explained, much of which is inspired by how emotions manifest themselves physically in the human body. While she works primarily in oils, Barrett said she occasionally paints with acrylics as well. When she does, she uses Golden Artist paints almost exclusively.
It’s not just the quality of Golden Artist Colors products which Barrett likes; she feels a strong connection with the company which brought her to Chenango County in the first place.
Shortly after she graduated from Alfred University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Barrett did an internship with the Columbus-based acrylic paint manufacturer. While there, she worked in their research and development lab.
“It was a wonderful place to work,” she said.
During her internship, Barrett, who is originally from Long Island, settled in Oxford, the hometown of her boyfriend whom she’d met in college.
“I thought it was a really great place to live,” she said. “I love Oxford.”
One of the things which has surprised her the most about her adopted hometown are the number of artists and musicians in the area, many of which she has been introduced to by friends. It was through one of these introductions that she became acquainted with musician Nate Gross.
“It was kind of by chance,” Barrett said of their meeting, but the two quickly became good friends. When Gross offered her the space above his studio, she jumped at the opportunity.
Gross, who offers youth and adult guitar lessons, has been encouraging Barrett to do the same.
“He’s always pushing me to do more,” she laughed. But in this case, it didn’t take much arm twisting, because sharing her love of art is something Barrett has always wanted to do.
At Gross’ urging, she has decided to offer lessons to children ages 7 to 12 out of her studio this summer. The lessons will be based on different movements, such as surrealism and impressionism, Barrett explained, and after learning about famous artists, students “will make their own pieces using those types of techniques.” The class will work with a variety of different media, including painting, drawing and some sculpture.
Barrett currently plans to offer two four-week sessions, one in July and one in August. Each session will include a total of 12 hours of instruction broken into two 1 1/2-hour lessons per week for the four weeks. Initially, Barrett plans to hold lessons from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, but said she will add additional class times based on interest.
The enrollment fee for each session will be $150 per student, a price which includes all materials.
Parents who are interested in signing their children up for lessons will have their first opportunity to do so from noon to 3 p.m. this Friday and 8 to 10 a.m. on Saturday in Barrett’s studio.
Those interested in more information can contact the artist at caitlinjbarrett@gmail.com. Gross can be reached at 242-3328.