A Fun Island Activity…

Today I’d like to tell you about a super fun art workshop I attended last week over at Sloop Jones’ art studio on the East End. I had such a great time that I thought I’d share it with all of you.

For those of you who don’t know Sloop, he creates hand-painted, one-of-a-kind clothing for both men and women. Chances are you’ve seen some of his work strolling around the island. And in addition to his clothing and other works of art, Sloop also holds painting workshops twice a week in which he shares his talent with people like you and I.

I arrived at Sloop’s studio last Friday at 9:15 a.m. and wandered through his studio for a bit before my class began. Classes are held twice a week – Mondays and Fridays – and typically run between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The cost of the painting workshop is $100 per person and there must be four people in order for a class to be held. But no need to worry, that doesn’t mean you need four in your group, just four people need to sign up total.

The $100 fee covers the painting workshop and two t-shirts that you paint and take home. You can upgrade to a different garment for your second piece if you’d like for a small fee. I chose to paint an apron for an additional $15.

I was a bit worried that my garments would come out horribly, but Sloop and Marcia – his wonderful assistant – walked us all through the process of choosing and mixing colors. They had us all start with some q-tips and paper towels, and once we got the hang of it, we moved on to our garments. And I have to say, I was pretty impressed with some of the talent folks here on the islands. Some of the shirts created Friday looked amazing.

I had such a great time at Friday’s workshop and I highly recommend you try it out. Not only was it fun to paint the shirts, but it was also fun meeting new people. If you’re interested in learning more about Sloop Jones or if you’d like to attend a workshop, you can email Sloop at [email protected]. You can also visit his website at www.SloopJones.com.