Art Experience-Susan Manders Gallery Studio

What a great studio! From my first class with Susan, i immediately felt comfortable and more confident. This is a very friendly, warm and relaxed environment where you can have one on one support as needed by Susan and her assistants, or be free to work on your own. The classes are small so there is no need to worry about not getting enough attention. Each student goes at there own pace, week by week, until they’ve finished what i witnessed as masterpieces. She plays lovely relaxing music and offers tea & coffee & refreshments. This really is the best ‘art experience’
The classes are not a structured lesson, although plenty of support and knowledge is given as you need. Susan lets you learn organically, guiding you and teaching you skills without pushing her own style onto you. She really takes the time to work with each individual student to understand what it is they like to paint and starts to help them form a style of there own.

Susan’s the best. I wanted to paint but as a teacher myself, I believe creativity can’t be taught. It’s more about inspiring and guiding people. That’s exactly what Susan does. I’ve been in her Saturday class for a year and a half and by the time Thursday rolls around, I’m counting the hours until class. The atmosphere is supportive and fun. Each of us works on different kinds of subject matter. There’s no judgment, only encouragement and support. I can’t say enough good things about Susan. She’s helped change my life. If you even have the slightest interest in learning to paint, I urge you to check this out. You won’t be sorry!

This is an outstanding class. I started painting with Susan — first time ever — last fall while I was on maternity leave. I knew I needed something outside of the house that would allow me to focus and have a mental break from the demands of my new life with a baby.
From the first class, I painted something I wanted to hang on my wall. Susan’s style is unstructured in the sense that there is not a formal topic presented every week. But she takes time with each student during the course of the class so her instruction is extremely customized and individually tailored to each person. She also knows when a student is getting stuck and encourages us to keep going even if we aren’t sure about what we are doing. She always says, «oil is very forgiving,» and «you can’t mess it up.» She does stress the importance of the initial drawing and encourages us to follow the same process with each new painting from priming the canvas to completing the drawing in charcoal. Over the last several months, I have seen new students start who, like me, have never picked up a paint brush. Everyone becomes an artist with Susan’s encouragement and help.
This class is also a lovely community — we all encourage each other and get excited when someone completes a work. I can’t imagine starting my Saturday without this class.

Susan’s classes are amazing. You literally can walk in a novice with not a lick of painting experience and walk out, even the first day, with something to take home… it may not be your best work but her teaching style and positivity give you the inspiration to come back and learn more and free your mind and your heart to go on this artistic journey. The relaxed atmosphere and the complete acceptance for being able to own your style, create your style, morph your style is where the teaching comes in… This is not a didactic, everyone paints the same thing kind of class. This is a self paced, ‘take what you need’ kind of instructional experience. As someone with a demanding career in a different field, it’s so refreshing to spend two hours a week being able to freely let my mind and my paintbrush wander, take as long or as short a time as I want to in finishing my pieces and come back each and every week to the opens arms of Susan and this process that embraces you — wherever you are at. Couldn’t be more pleased with this and have had a life changing experience by having someone like Susan introduce me to my inner artist.

I took Susan’s class a few years ago and was deeply disappointed with the class and her teaching. She doesn’t teach so much as act as either a baby-​sitter for other people’s kids or the overseer of a gossip circle with her «students» who just show up to do free-​style. I took this class with a friend of mine who was equally disappointed with her — he found the endless chattering and the children very disruptive. For me, it was more the lack of actual teaching & the incompetence of what little teaching was provided. Case in point — I was interested in how to best paint skin tone and she told us to blend all of our colors together and, voila!, mud. Seriously. She also becomes frustrated if you take your time with a painting. Her style of art is to paint and finish in one sitting — very of the moment and non-​detail-​oriented. To boot, the last painting I was working on was damaged when I left it in her studio and she was less than apologetic about the situation. Avoid this place like the plague if you’re serious about learning how to paint!

Susan is an amazing teacher and has established a wonderful environment for art. I began taking classes from Susan in 2000 (never having painted) and stayed with her until 2012 when I moved out of the Southern California area. i highly recommend her. She is a fabulous artist and very insightful and an intuitive teacher. She keys on the interest and styles and personalities of students rather than taking a «cookie cutter» approach to teaching art. Susan’s teaching style enables students to orient around the subject matter and styles that inspire them to make the best art possible. In the years I studied with Susan, I saw her work with many students that were complete beginners and saw their art quickly transform to paintings that they were proud to hang on their walls, give away to friends and family and even to sell! Susan certainly helped me become the artist I had no idea I could be with focus on the process of creating really good art and encouragement and sharing. She is an amazing artist herself and gladly shares her secrets and tips and tricks. She is a very gifted, inspiring and authentic art teacher. I miss her and wish she was here in Northern California where I have moved so that I could continue taking her classes!

I took this class a while back before I had a baby. Susan is so lovely and really helps you tap into your inner artist.
I think almost everyone in my class was as surprised as I was… that we could actually create beautiful pieces!
I actually haven’t been back in a while but as soon as I have a little more me time… I’m going back. It is really so fun, creative, and rewarding.
On a side note… I also loved when the kids were there because they had the best time creating their art too. I will be sending my daughter there as soon as she can hold a brush! Ha!
ENJOY!
xooxxoxoo

I was in LA and I can’t recommend Susan Manders more.
Susan Manders is not only a great artist but she is an amazing teacher. She loves the creative process, and all her students have such a great time finding and developing their own creative voice.
This isn’t paint by numbers this is paint by your imagination, which can be scary and exhilarating all at the one time.
It’s amazing to see the work that both children and adults are able to accomplish under Susan’s tutelage. It’s humbling also when you discover that your five-​year-​old can paint better than you.
I highly recommend these classes as they will really unlock your creativity

What an absolutely wonderful little place this is for the creative littles, adults and really anyone who is interested at trying their hand at creating art :)
Susan Manders is a pretty well known artist herself and on Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday mornings and Saturday mornings, she opens her talents and love of teaching up to those interested in learning.
So if you have been secretely yearning to draw, paint, shape or what have you then pop on by and get started. Life’s too short not to just jump in and live it!
Check out the website for more details :)