By Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Cabin fever is catching among the weather-bound of Clarksville, but there’s nothing like a new class to get invigorated. Silke Tyler promises her new series of watercolor classes will be fun-filled.
“We get to play with paint and paper and unusual things, like plastic wrap and salt,” she says.
Tyler, who is the owner of Silke’s Old World Breads Bakery and Café, has been rendering graceful watercolors for 26 years. Now she is teaching six
sessions of watercolor classes which will be on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 24 through March 31. The fee for six weeks is $210, which is due upon signup.
The classes are open to ages 16 and older and the maximum class size is 10 people so that Tyler can work one-one-one with her pupils. They will take place at 1214A College Street.
To enroll or find out more, email Tyler at silkesart@gmail.com. A supply sheet will be provided so that students can buy supplies before the class begins.
Silke Tyler’s watercolor of a market in Bamberg, Germany.
Tyler has a degree in art and design from Germany, where she was born. She taught through the Community School of the Arts at Austin Peay State University for several years, but she got too busy with her bakery and raising her two children to continue.
“I am now finding time again to follow this love and passion of mine again,” Tyler says. “I love teaching. It is so rewarding to help people, to take them from feeling unsure and not knowing where to start to a place where they feel confident with the medium of watercolor.”
Her paintings – including an architecturally-correct depiction of the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center – are detailed and filled with light.
Tyler plans to add more classes to her schedule in the future.
The tools Silke Tyler uses in her watercolor practice.
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.