Dulcet notes from violinist Jane Holland were the finishing touch on the Dhahran Art Group’s (DAG) Festival of Art, “Autumn Rain.” The gallery exhibition and demonstrations ran through last weekend as DAG threw open its doors to the community with the goal of increasing its membership and attracting new talents.

The three-day festival began with an exhibition that included a variety of styles and media.

“The first day of the festival we had on display paintings, pottery, linocut, mixed media, photography, jewelry, woodworking, weaving and basketry,” said Maria Pita, one of the festival’s organizers.

Pita, along with Christopher and Beatriz Stanley, spent months organizing the event. “Then, the following two days were even more exciting,” Pita continued, “because we had some of the top artists in the region demonstrating their techniques. Among the more unusual sessions on offer were batik on paper done by Alan Glodt, who is based in Abqaiq. Isa Foster painted with tobacco and Mina Hayder did an etching demo using a zinc plate that was to be put through a printing press.”

Other demonstrations included Chinese calligraphy, origami, floral arrangement, loom weaving, bobbin lace, latch hooking, pysanky, fabric and yarn dyeing, Brazilian embroidery and numerous painting and printmaking techniques.

“During the festival, three different demonstrations ran simultaneously, switching hourly,” explained Christopher Stanley, “So it was easy for people to experience several in order to find something that interested them. Art is very personal. We wanted people to have the opportunity to see that the world of art is a continuing journey of discovery.”

His wife, Beatriz agreed. “We wanted the community to know that there is a place here to try and to learn new things. Some of the artists in the exhibition had only been involved with DAG for a few months, but they’re already creating artwork good enough to put on show.”

To make her point, Beatriz introduced Dr. Gio Andrade and Jutta Fuhrmann. Andrade is a dentist by profession and Fuhrmann worked in the finance sector before coming to the Kingdom. Both took a DAG course in linocut -- a printmaking technique.

“I’d never taken any sort of art instruction before,” said Andrade. “Linocut is quick and easy to learn and I found it really relaxing. It’s great to try something new, too.”

“We’re all exposed to art in school,” said Fuhrmann. “But then as adults we get away from being creative. I plan to hang the art I’ve made on my walls at home. It makes me feel a little bit proud to have made something beautiful myself.”

That pride can bloom and grow as skills are added and technique refined. Jennifer Johnson is an artist who specializes in wood carving. She first took up a chisel in 1982, and now is confident enough in her skills to teach others how to turn a block of wood into an expression of the imagination.

“I don’t sell my work because I feel like it’s a part of me,” said Johnson. “But through teaching, I can pass on some of my passion to others. I like to feel my work which is why I only use hand tools to carve the piece. All my art starts out as a single line, one emotion, and it emerges from that.”

Her piece “Desperado,” on display at the “Autumn Rain” exhibition, took 30 hours to create and broke all her fingernails, but by the time it was complete, Johnson had worked through the depression she’d felt at its beginning and was looking forward to happier days ahead.

In fact, if there was one word that could describe the atmosphere in the gallery at the opening of the festival, “happy,” would have been it.

That should be a lesson to us all. If indulging in a creative hobby can bring forth such positive emotions as happiness, pride and success, then perhaps it’s time we all turned off the TV and picked up some clay or a brush.