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CLUBHUB: Creative Arts Club allows members to explore art in a relaxing atmosphere

By Frances Borsodi Zajac fzajac@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Julia Messner dips a skewer painted green that represents a flower stem into a bottle of glue that will be glued to paper petals made from paper rolls that were cut into strips and painted. Together, they will form a daisy, marking the arrival of spring. Many of the projects tackled by the Creative Arts Club make use of recycled materials. Messner, adult and teen program director, started the club last fall at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville. She said, “It’s a nice way to relax.’’

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Julia Messner shows off a finished craft project that features a daisy in a flower pot, made with recycled materials. Messner, adult and teen program director, started the club last fall at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville. The club, which meets weekly, features crafts but also painting and jewelry making. Messner said, “We do a little bit of everything.’’

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Julia Messner shows off the latest project of the Creative Arts Club a daisy, marking the arrival of spring. Many of the projects tackled by the club make use of recycled materials, such as the daisy's leaves and petals that were made from recycled paper rolls and the flower pot, recycled from packing material. Messner, adult and teen program director who started the club at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville last fall, said, "If you can figure out how to use something differently, we'll do it.''

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

The Creative Arts Club at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville made reindeer for the Christmas season, using recycled materials. Club members also paint and make jewelry. The club for adults and youths age 12 and up meets from 3 to 4:30 p.m. every Tuesday.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville hosts weekly meetings of the Creative Arts Club where members participate in crafts, painting and jewelry making. The club is open to adults and youths age 12 and older. Creative Arts Club is one of many clubs and activities offered by the library.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

These strips of painted paper came from recycled toilet paper and paper towel rolls and are being used to make daisies at the Creative Arts Club at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville. The club for adults and youths age 12 and up meets from 3 to 4:30 p.m. every Tuesday.

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Frances Borsodi Zajac|Herald-Standard

Julia Messner pulls out materials for the weekly meeting of Creative Arts Club at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville. Messner, adult and teen program director who started the club last fall, said, “It’s a nice way to relax. It’s for people to be social. People who want something to do with their time. We get together and try to find fun ways of doing something.’’

Editor’s note: This is part of our monthly Club Hub series highlighting the community services and social clubs operating in the Herald-Standard readership area.

The Creative Arts Club at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville is more than crafts.

“We do crafts but also painting and jewelry making. I didn’t want just a crafts club so it’s creative arts. That way we do a little bit of everything,” explained Julia Messner, the library’s adult and teen program director, who started the club last fall.

Creative Arts Club, which meets from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Tuesday, is open to adults and youths ages 12 and older. Members gather in the lower level of the library where Messner spreads plastic cloths on tables and sets up materials for that week’s activity.

“I really love it,” said Margie Ayers of Connellsville. “The first time I came, I did a painting. I put it on Facebook, and everybody loved it.”

The club’s latest activity is a craft that involves making a daisy, marking the arrival of spring. A white flower with a yellow center and green leaves that stands in a flower pot, it’s easy to make and also friendly to the environment.

“We take anything that can be recycled or turned into something else and try to make a craft out of it,” Messner said. “… If you can figure out how to use something differently, we’ll do it.”

She held up small, thick squares that will be used for flower pots: “These are from covers for shipping items with hard edges, like furniture and TVs.”

Messner pointed to plates of oblong strips painted white and green that will be fashioned into daisy petals and leaves: “This is from toilet paper and paper towel rolls.”

She showed off bright green flower stems: “I took wooden skewers and broke them in half and painted them. You can use regular sticks or Popsicle sticks.”

Messner visited a dollar store where she found small, felt coasters that can be placed on the ends of chairs and table legs. She painted them yellow. They will become the daisy centers. She also purchased dry moss at the store that will be used to fill the flower pot around the daisy.

To demonstrate this activity, Messner took items that were already painted and began gluing, pinching and placing them together. A daisy soon appeared and was put into the pot with the dry moss.

Messner is having fun bringing crafts and artworks that she discovers on the internet to the club, making use of such sites as The Art Sherpa on Youtube.

Activities for the Creative Arts Club include reindeer made out of bottle corks for the Christmas season and making garden decorations for spring. They also include recycled materials that can be found at home or at the library.

“There are a lot of odds and ends donated to the library that are in storage,” said Messner. “I thought they might as well be used.”

And the library is always happy to receive donated items that can be used at the Creative Arts Club.

Messner said, “We gladly accept any kind of donations. We run on a shoestring budget or no budget.”

Projects often overlap weeks, such as when objects need painted. Members will paint materials one week and then let them dry to use the next week.

Projects can have other reasons to overlap weeks.

Messner explained an activity that calls for making garden lanterns out of tin cans: “The easiest way is to freeze the can with ice so you can use a hammer and nail to pound a design into the can without the metal bending. Then you throw it in the sink so the ice melts and let it dry. We’ll paint it the next week.”

Besides crafts, other projects have included painting with acrylics on canvas. Messner shows off pictures on her phone of paintings that feature silhouettes of a tree with a swing.

Ayers said, “I’ve painted on rocks but never on canvas. I was really enjoying that.”

“We have tons of beads so jewelry making is on the agenda, too,” said Messner.

The Creative Arts Club operates in an atmosphere that is friendly and welcoming. There’s no competition, no challenges.

“I love meeting new people and I really enjoy the different crafts they have. It is very relaxing for me. That’s one of the main reasons I go — for the relaxation,” said Ayers, who is also a member of the library’s knitting and crocheting club. “”I really appreciate these classes and I’m grateful they have them at no charge.”

“It’s a nice way to relax,” said Messner. “It’s for people to be social. People who want something to do with their time. We get together and try to find fun ways of doing something.”

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