THOMPSON FALLS — Andrea Fernandez believes that art should not be limited to just the experts, and painting can be enjoyed by anyone with little or no experience.

On Thursday and Saturday, Fernandez taught a painting class as part of a her Faux Show Painting series called “Brushing Up!”

The idea is to have a small intimate class where students can feel comfortable and not intimidated.

The classes cost $25 to attend which included a canvas and top-of-line brushes and paint.

Fernandez, 27, actually went to school for theatre design, but was more interested in painting—specifically, art of all kinds.

“I’ve been involved in the arts my whole life,” she said.

On Thursday night at the Rimrock Lodge, the class was the first time she’d held an instructing class with students. She always wanted to have a class like the one she put on.

Seven people showed up on Thursday night’s class, which Fernandez said was a positive aspect—for her and the students.

“[Rimrock] is a good setting. It’s pretty intimate,” she said. “It lends itself to better instruction.”

On Thursday, the class project was a camping scene: night sky, stars, and a tent.

Fernandez brought a completed canvas that she had previously painted, but also created a new one with the class.

I want it to be visual,” she said. “I paint so they can see.”

The technique was simple and what Fernandez calls a “layered process” that the students could follow.

Starting with blank canvases, the color black is applied, and then slowly adding new features such as nebulous clouds and horizon lines.

The class began at 6 p.m. and was wrapping up roughly two hours later, students of all ages stepping out of Rimrock with a new painting.

Amanda Gleim had a good time with the class and Fernandez’s instruction.

“I enjoyed it, and I kind of walked away with a painting,” Gleim teased, smiling.

Gleim is a Thompson Falls Junior high school therapist, and she sometimes works with students using art therapy. Art, Gleim said, is useful because students who might be dealing with overwhelming emotions or having trouble at home can create something.

“Especially with kids, it’s really transformative,” she said. “They feel productive. They’re able to express something real.”

As for the class on Thursday, Gleim said it was a relaxing experience.

“I’ve been to classes where instructors are all up in your grill,” she said. “This feels supportive; not paint by numbers.”

In the breaking down of the easels, which Fernandez highly praised as being “awesome”, she was glad Rimrock allowed her a space for the class.

“They were the first place I called that didn’t think it was a good idea,” Fernandez said. “They thought it was a great idea.”

Rob Christensen helped to break down the tables and put away supplies with Fernandez, both of them talked about the next big class event.

On April 3, Fernandez is teaching a superhero class for the elementary school in Paradise, as part of a fundraiser toward establishing the Paradise Center.

Before the lights were turned off in the room, and the easels and supplies put away, Fernandez said that Thursday’s class was the result of years of thinking, and a desire to do something through art.

“I set a goal for myself,” she said. “I wanted a space or place to let people who don’t have art in their lives—to have art in their lives.”