Dear friends!

On September 28, a master class titled “I Paint Autumn” was held at our Russian House, led by the talented art teacher Anna Burkovskaya.

Those who often visit our Russian House have undoubtedly seen the murals made by her hand.

Autumn has arrived. Autumn is a time of wonders! A time when the park paths are covered with chestnuts. They are so smooth, like they are lacquered. Which child can resist filling their pockets with these brown nuts? Red berries hang on the thorny branches of the wild rose. They are a winter reserve for the birds. Real mushrooms have settled under the trees. In the city, they are safe — no one will cut them down and put them in a basket.

And since mushrooms have appeared, it’s time to go to the forest. It’s beautiful there now. And what about the air? It’s rich and fragrant, like the scent of mushroom soup. The mushroom season is short, but we want to keep the memory alive. Dry the mushroom? It will lose its colors. A photo? Not quite. A drawing? Of course, a drawing!

That’s why we decided to invite Anna Burkovskaya to help our young mushroom pickers capture the mushroom as a memory.

We prepared thoroughly for the master class. We brought out a whole arsenal of paints and brushes, thick cardboard, jars for water, and a real palette to mix colors and create unique shades.

The children sat at their desks. Anna stood at the board.

“Today, we will learn how to draw a mushroom! First, we need to outline it. Who knows what a mushroom consists of?”

Of course, everyone confidently said that a mushroom is a cap on a stem!

Each young artist was given a clean white sheet. It was hard to believe that soon it would turn into a painting. A pencil stroke, and the work began. The children worked hard. It seemed like everyone was drawing the same thing, but each mushroom was unique.

After the outlines were finished, it was time for the paints. It turned out to be real magic! Anna showed how to get one color from another. The children turned into magicians. They mixed, dripped, drew lines, and some even experimented with different combinations as if it wasn’t gouache but abracadabra.

“Autumn is a real artist!” Anna said, approaching the children and helping them. “It turns green into yellow or red. Mushrooms, so they won’t be found, camouflage themselves to the color of the leaves. This shade of brown looks like milk chocolate.”

The children enthusiastically mixed colors on the palette. Someone mixed red with yellow and then added a drop of black — it turned into a terribly dirty mess, like wet earth after the rain. Another one mixed yellow with red, and it turned orange.

Then the most fun part began — filling the empty space. Together, we splashed the paints, creating pictures as bright as children’s dreams. But there was one little problem: someone got too carried away, and our mushroom started looking like an orange puddle, and the neighbor’s one — like a wave ready to flood the whole class.

Anna demonstrated on the board how to apply brushstrokes, how to create a grass base. Before the class started, Anna handed out leaves to the children. But it turned out they weren’t just for decoration.

“Do you see how we managed to capture the atmosphere of autumn?” Anna continued, walking around and looking at the masterpieces. “You all did great. You’ve drawn not just mushrooms but also conveyed your mood through the paints.”

All the children proudly showed their work. Each mushroom was unique, and our individuality shone through in every painting. The children didn’t just paint; they experienced autumn with its rains, mushrooms, and colors.

Anna helped the children understand that autumn is not just about sadness and melancholy, but also a time for creativity, experimentation, and sharing your mood with others.