Monrovia Association of Fine Arts upcoming events

Artist Alley Reception (24 Apr 2026)

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Creating Stunning Atmospheric Effects in Watercolor (27 May 2026)

Thu, 28 May 2026 01:30:00 GMT

George Liang, Instructor
Wednesday, May 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave, Monrovia
Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, May 25.

What You Will Learn
Master the secrets of this beautiful art in two steps:
Learn the foundational skills of drawing and sketching, crucial to master any painting medium.
Explore the unique characteristics of watercolor, beloved for its fluidity and translucence, allowing for a range of artistic expressions.

What to Bring With You
Watercolor tube paints: three basic colors

a) Yellow: deep yellow, lemon yellow;
b) Blue: phthalo blue, ultramarine blue;
c) Red: alizarin crimson, pyrrole scarlet plus other color paints (of your choice)

Brushes: round and flat, your choice of size
Watercolor paper: 100% cotton, acid-free,140 lb. cold press, small pad, 10" x 14"
Watercolor palette
Pencils
Masking tape
Water jar
Board: Wood hardboard flat panel (16" x 21")

Paper towels

Instructor Bio
George Liang's artistic journey began at the tender age of six with a love for drawing that quickly blossomed into a passion. By age 15, he had embraced the complexity and richness of oil painting, mastering its techniques with dedication. Fifteen years ago, George turned to watercolor painting, finding beauty in its challenging yet expressive nature. His impressionist work celebrates the fluidity and ephemeral qualities of watercolor, capturing moments that are as fleeting as they are beautiful. For a watercolor workshop, transferring and exchanging the knowledge and experience of watercolor painting to passionate students can be a fulfilling endeavor. It involves not only teaching the techniques but also sharing the joy and challenges that come with the medium. georgeliangfineart.com.

Love Your Fur Baby? Make a Colorful Keepsake Portrait! (17 Jun 2026)

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Sally Weiss, Instructor
Wednesday, June 17, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
For adults and students ages 12 and up
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave. Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, June 15.

Book early! We are repeating this popular session presented on January 28 due to the number of people who could not be accommodated within the 20-person limit.

What You Will Learn
Instructor Sally Weiss will help you create a colorful painting of your pet on a 9 x 12” canvas with acrylic paints. No experience needed!

What to Bring Along
Your favorite color photo print of your pet (especially concentrating on the face)
A black and white print on paper of that photo in the size you’d like for your finished painting.

MAFA Will Provide:
Paint
Brushes
Canvas
Tabletop easels

Instructor Bio:
Sally feels very lucky to have grown up in a beautiful town in northern Michigan just blocks away from Lake Michigan. Fresh water, wide-open beaches with sand dunes, expansive forests and rolling farm fields surrounded the area. In addition, her parents loved to garden. They had a magical touch and transformed their backyard into a flower-filled oasis.

All of this instilled a fascination and appreciation of nature in Sally. She has always loved to create in many forms, including drawing, stained glass, pottery, interior design, gardening, and cooking. Now, bright, bold paintings are her way of sharing the joy of nature. Flowers and dogs are among her favorite topics to paint. She is also happy to work with clients to create commissioned work. sallyweissart.com

The Tree of Life: Drawing and Painting Inspired by the Beauty of Our Local Oak Trees (24 Jun 2026)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Jeannine Savedra, Instructor
Wednesday, June 24, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave, Monrovia
Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, June 22.

What You Will Learn
For this demonstration Jeannine will provide reference materials and images to be used for inspiration.

We will begin this art lesson with a little bit of drawing by lightly sketching in the tree composition on canvas or paper. She will demonstrate how to simplify the image using basic shapes and contour lines to create a silhouette of the oak tree with reference to a foreground, middle ground, and background of a landscape composition.

Jeannine will present the demonstration with oil paints using a very basic color palette of yellow, orange, red, blue, green and white to mix a variety of colors such as lights and darks, bright and subdued, and warm and cool mixtures to create a sense of mood, drama and dimension. She will be painting on a canvas approximately 9” x 12” and will use a couple of medium-sized bristle brushes, and a small brush for a few details at the end. She may also use a palette knife to mix the paint and use it to create textures.

The lesson can be done in oil or acrylic paints as well as watercolors, pastels and colored pencil. Jeannine encourages participants to work in an art medium they are comfortable with. The reference material and images will be available to take home to complete at a later time if unable to finish during the workshop. In addition, Jeannine will have some extra brushes, paints and pastels so all can participate.

What to Bring With You
A 9” x 12” canvas
Suggested: medium-sized bristle brushes, your preferred type of paint in yellow, orange, red, blue, green and white.
As mentioned above, Jeannine will have extra brushes, paints and pastels so all can participate.

Instructor Bio
Jeannine Savedra is an L.A. based painter, art instructor and restoration artist with over twenty five years of professional experience. She was born and raised in Los Angeles where she received formal art training at Otis Art Institute, Parsons School of Design and California State University. She studied Fine Arts and earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree and obtained a Teaching Credential in Art. Throughout the many years of working as a studio painter and restoration artist Jeannine has garnered a comprehensive knowledge and versatility with color, brushwork and style that distinguishes her approach to painting. Presently, she spends much of her time painting outdoors and in the studio, where she is often restoring a work of art or putting the final touches on a painting for an upcoming exhibition. Her inspiration for painting is often found outdoors, where she finds endless compositions to paint and countless color combinations to interpret. Her passion is to recreate the surrounding landscape into works filled with light, color, texture and form. www.jeanninesavedra.com

How to Draw Wolves (29 Jul 2026)

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Eric Watkins, Instructor
Wednesday, July 29, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave, Monrovia
Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, July 27.

What You Will Learn
Drawing animals with movement:

For beginners: Transferring an image to another page
For intermediate artists with some experience: Use the grid method to draw an image
For experienced artists: Freehand drawing of an image

What to Bring With You
Nothing—Eric will supply the materials.

Instructor Bio
Eric is one of the newest MAFA board members of MAFA but is no stranger to the arts. He’s been an actor, singer, dancer and mime in the performing arts as well as a graphic designer for many years. Eric joined MAFA in 2016 and since then he’s painted four utility transformer boxes for the City of Monrovia and won an award as “Best of the Show” in the first Juried Art Show in 2018. You can see Eric’s art displayed in various restaurants, galleries, and art walks throughout the surrounding communities. Eric was awarded MAFA's Heart in the Arts Award in 2021 and manages MAFA artist members' and students' exhibits in local businesses and the Artist Alley Gallery at the Monrovia Community Center.

How to Draw Horses (26 Aug 2026)

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Eric Watkins, Instructor
Wednesday, August 26, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave, Monrovia
Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, August 24.

What You Will Learn
Drawing animals with movement:

For beginners: Transferring an image to another page
For intermediate artists with some experience: Use the grid method to draw an image
For experienced artists: Freehand drawing of an image

What to Bring With You
Nothing—Eric will supply the materials.

Intro to Fluid / Pour Painting (30 Sep 2026)

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Renee Taylor, Instructor
Wednesday, September 30, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave, Monrovia
Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, September 28.

What You Will Learn
How to mix paint
The different types for pour techniques
Two types of pour techniques
Flip cup and dirty pour

What to Bring With You
Two 8x10 canvasses
Optional: 2 oz acrylic paint or tube acrylic paint that you would like to create your painting with. (There will be plenty of paints available.)

Instructor Bio
Renee’s passion for art has been a life long journey. She grew up in a family of artists, her father was a successful wood sculptor and her uncle and award winning oil painter. She spent time around artists and art festivals, art galleries and museum showcases because of her father’s work. She found her own love to create art in 2015. She found an art group made up of six women exploring sketching, drawing and painting with water color, acrylic paint, mixed media and more. While she loves creating in different art forms, her passion is abstract fluid art. She feels so much freedom in this form of painting because of the movement of paint and the interaction of colors.

The art she creates helps buyers add to home decor, with unique wall art, Lazy Susans and coaster sets or wall hooks and more. The jewelry she creates is an extension of her paintings. These pieces add colorful fun accents to your fashion with pendants, earring and bangles all made from leftover paint.

Renee sells and displays her art at several art venues in Southern California. She sells in Laguna Beach at the bimonthly showcase supported by the Laguna Craft Guild, and has been a part of the Balboa Island Artwalk, Montrose Arts & Craft Festival and Newport Beach Art Foundations Art Walk, as well as art displays at Woodbury University Nan Rae Gallery, Colony Theater and Monrovia Community Center.

Her art embodies bold, joyful colors thru abstract fluid painting. She believes her art is a reminder that each of us has a unique perspective and vision for what we see in art. Her art creates a wonderful connection with people and that brings her great joy. http://www.artbyreneetaylor.com/

New Dimensions in Watercolor (28 Oct 2026)

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 01:30:00 GMT

Pete Morris, Instructor
Wednesday, October 28, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Monrovia Community Center, 119 W. Palm Ave, Monrovia
Admission is free but you must register no later than Monday, October 26.

What You Will Learn
The painting you will create will be an example of the type of wet into wet and damp into wet watercolors Pete has been doing—which creates new dimension and effects you may not have experienced yet.

What to Bring With You
100 percent cotton cold press watercolor paper and at least three colors of artist grade tube paint:
Blue (cobalt or ultramarine,
Red (cadmium red or alizarin crimson)
Yellow (yellow ochre or Quinchridone gold)
A watercolor brush (such as number twelve round)
A palette to mix colors.

Bring any watercolor materials that you usually use

Instructor Bio
Pete Morris has been painting watercolors for 30 years and have been teaching drawing and watercolor since 2012. His website is seelifeart.com. You can see him on YouTube on a video entitled “Metrodavinci”, sketching on the Metro train.

Pete has always drawn and painted, and can remember being attracted to watercolor even as a teenager. A few years ago, he discovered that he could do plein air sketches and paintings on the way to and from work and on lunch breaks and thereby produce a lot more work. He feels that by taking advantage of the opportunity to paint wherever he goes, wherever he can, he has been evolving in style and quality as an artist. He believes that being prolific is important to development of artistic skill, style and vision. @petemorrisart @MetroDavinciWatercolors