In the plain bright hall of the Mascoma Community Building, validations were passed out last Sunday like Valentine’s candy.
“That’s good, very good,’’ said Mary Bakker, leader of an art class aimed mostly at dabblers and beginners. When she wasn’t demonstrating in front, she glided among the 10 or so painters at their easels, admiring, encouraging.
Before them was Bakker’s work-in-progress: a landscape with pretty trees, glowing northern lights, an inviting pathway. The painters followed along, making their own versions. Bakker approved of them all with affirmations like these:
“She’s rocking it.”
“Good — happy little brush strokes.”
“Here’s a little magic thing. Isn’t it cool?”
And even when results were less than ideal — blobby trees, nervous Northern Lights — Bakker was reassuring:
“It’s OK. It’s a process.”
“You just have to let go.”
“Don’t freak out if something’s not working.”
Bakker told the painters they were creating their own little worlds. But they had also stepped into the world of the late Bob Ross, whose Joy of Painting series on PBS years ago was for adults what Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was for children: a safe space where the volume’s always down and things turn out just fine.
Ross, soft-voiced and friendly, demonstrated his approach to wet-on-wet oil painting, which emphasized quickness over regrets. He used artist’s brushes — and a house painter’s brush, too. His hand and fingers dabbed and danced, up and down, back and forth, creating what he called “happy little trees’’ and “happy little clouds.”
Ross, whose generous Afro seemed left over from hippie days (he actually was a retired Air Force sergeant who, when he left the service, reportedly renounced yelling or even raising his voice) finished paintings in less than half an hour. It’s estimated he completed more than 30,000.
No one knows how many viewers followed along with him painting at home, or just sat, mesmerized, much as they might if they were watching a happy little fire in a happy little fireplace.
Bob Ross died in 1995, but his techniques live on. Bakker, of Enfield, a retired nurse, trained at the Bob Ross Art Workshop in New Smyrna, Fla., about a year ago. (Actor David Arquette was in her group, she confided.)
She has offered a string of Bob Ross painting classes through Mascoma Valley Parks & Recreation. Friday night sessions are BYOB; Sunday afternoon ones are open to all ages.
“It’s fun. It’s a different way to spend a Sunday afternoon,’’ said Karen Ricard, of Enfield, at Sunday’s class. “It gets you out of the house and you have something to take home.”
Bill O’Sullivan, of Bedford, N.H., was there with his 8-year-old daughter, Avery. They had seen a Bob Ross video on YouTube, and went online to find a class. Avery acted shy among the adults as she painted, but let out a loud “oooh’’ when Bakker offered her the chance to sprinkle glitter on her finished landscape. Who says you can’t gild the lily?
But as easy as Ross made painting seem, it’s not that way for all. Jill Markowski, of Enfield, said she watched him on PBS years ago and was fascinated by how he finished a piece in as little as 20 minutes. “It’s challenging to me because I’m not particularly artistic,’’ she said.
“It’s not relaxing for me; I’m very critical of my work,’’ said Bonnie Iskandar, of Lebanon. “I have a hard time being satisfied.”
One painter whispered as she fussed with her work, “This isn’t as zen as I thought it was going to be.”
When Bakker overheard such remarks, she cooed encouragement. “Anyone can paint,’’ she said later. “Bob brought art to the masses.”
But beginners shouldn’t expect masterpieces. “Some people are afraid to make a mistake. You’re not going to do a painting and it’s going to be perfect,’’ she said.
Jessica Whitaker, of Canaan, said acceptance of imperfections was a good lesson for her. She concentrated on the sciences in school, seeking definitive knowledge. But here, in this class, was a world where “there is no perfect.”
Critics — there will always be critics — question whether the Ross techniques really teach people to create, or merely to imitate what he did.
Indeed, he never asked viewers to suffer for their art. In his realm of vision and imagination, the real aim might have been happiness itself.
At the end of the Enfield class on Sunday, participants gathered for a group photo with all of them holding their creations. Most beamed for the camera, looking entirely happy — or at least happy enough.
Information about future Bob Ross-style art classes can be found on the Mascoma Parks & Recreation website at mvpr.recdesk.com/Community/Home. The three-hour workshops are $45, and all supplies are included.
Dan Mackie lives in West Lebanon. He can be reached at dan.mackie@yahoo.com.
