By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW — Alida Akers believes everyone is an artist.
“I don’t think anyone is born who is not an artist,” she said. “Art isn’t just something you do with your hands. It’s how you approach life and you’re an artist, period ... You may put a quilt to a machine or basil into a pasta sauce. You’re an artist. Everybody’s an artist.”
Akers teaches art classes at First Christian Church in Glasgow. She began teaching a six-week watercolor class four years ago. The students decided to informally band together under the name of The Ouisa Art Guild.
It is the artwork of the members of The Ouisa Art Guild that is on display this month at the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center.
“This show is really a cross-section of my students’ work,” she said. “They come from varying levels of art backgrounds. Some had absolutely never taken pencil to paper. Some had taken art classes in college years ago, but each student has such an individual outlook on their artwork and that’s my main focus.”
Akers views her art students as a chorus.
“They each have their own voice and they need to find that voice,” she said.
One student featured in the show is Shelby Bale. He has been painting off and on for eight years.
“I do it because I love to do it,” he said. “It’s so relaxing.”
Bale has three paintings in the exhibit.
He said he enjoys taking classes with Akers because she allows students to be themselves.
“She’s not trying to force us into a mold,” he said.
Joining Bale in exhibiting his work is Kris Smith, who is both a fiber artist as well as a painter.
“I normally work in pastels and fabric medium,” she said.
One of her pieces is a framed necklace made of beads, fabric and fringe.
“You can take it out of the box and wear it as a necklace or you can hang it on your wall and use it as a piece of art,” she said.
Akers’ students’ artwork will be on display through March 18.
