Painting the Five Towns red, and yellow and blue

“Every brush stroke is a decision,” said Brocha Teichman, owner of the Art Studio of the Five Towns to one of her adult students, Alyssa Shuvalsky.

Roughly 15 years ago, Teichman turned a hobby into her business when she opened up the studio to begin teaching painting lessons. A Brooklyn native, she moved to Lawrence last year and walks to work at her combination studio and gallery, located at 48 Frost Lane in Lawrence, adjacent to Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway Middle School.

Teichman said that she works with artists of all ages and all skill levels. “We go from five to 95,” she said. “We teach a lot of color theory. Everyone is using red, yellow and blue.”

Shuvalsky and Machama Turetz, two of the students attending one of Teichman’s summer session classes on July 11, signed up after bringing their daughter and granddaughter, respectively, in for classes. “I started bringing my daughter here a few months ago,” Shuvalsky said. “It’s just such a nice and friendly environment. There’s no pressure and Brocha embraces all the artists no matter how skilled they are.”

Ten-year-old Yael Obermeister, attending her third class, had started to add a waterfall to her painting. After lightening some blue paint she began with vertical strokes, dividing the beds of flowers she had already painted down the center. Obermesiter said that she learned to start with the darker colors, and is excited to be the newest artist in her family, “I really want to learn how to paint,” she said. “Like my aunts, and my grandma.”

To the left of the entrance is Teichman’s gallery, dozens of paintings hang from all four walls. She made a point to highlight two in particular. One scene of the Western Wall in Jerusalem was drying and will soon be on display at the Metal Art Gallery on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst; another scene was painted using a more advanced technique where she uses a palette knife as opposed to a brush.

She mentioned that while she has many students who are beginners, one has been trying the same technique and that there are styles for everyone. “It was while painting outdoors and trying to beat the moving sun, that I began to use my palette knife to apply and blend quickly and deftly,” she explained. “And thus a style was born.”

Lessons typically run in eight class sessions, interested artists of all ages can take classes either during the summer or the school year. There are classes on Sunday mornings as well as on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and afternoons during the summer. Once schools open there are classes from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sundays, during the evenings on Wednesdays and Thursdays and on Friday afternoons.

Go to brochateichman.com, to unleash the artist in you.