The Exchange Street Gallery located at the Artists League of the Sandhills in Aberdeen presents its Art Instructors' Exhibit in the gallery for the month of January.

On Sunday, Jan. 7, from 2:30 to 5 p.m., the League will host a reception with the instructors demonstrating in oil, acrylics, watercolor, collage, soft pastels, pencil drawing, and oil pastels. This reception is free and open to anyone interested.

"There will be something for everyone -- if you are thinking you would like to learn to paint or have years of experience, there will be a class for you," says a spokesman. "These demos offer an excellent opportunity to meet the instructors, view their work, ask questions and see them demonstrate in their media as well as sign up for their classes."

Many area art enthusiasts know Mary O'Malley, winner of the People's Choice Award at the recent annual exhibit at the Artists League, and love her loose oil painting style that has special appeal. O'Malley's class, "Oil Painting," will lean toward this impressionistic style of painting with an emphasis on a realistic representation of the subject. She will do short demonstrations working from photos, explaining how to progress from a blank canvas, blocking in, to a finished painting at the end of the four sessions. This class is open to artists of all levels of experience.

For those who have always admired watercolors, never done them or would like to enhance what they may already know, Mike D'Andrea's class "Beginning and Intermediate Watercolor" is a good choice. D'Andrea will start with basic watercolor techniques introducing various skies, horizon, trees both loose and tight and advance to mid-ground work including water and rocks.

"Landscape Painting in Oil" with Jerry Catapano promises the essentials for creating a well-composed and structured landscape. He will demonstrate the methods he uses in development of the work, use of proper perspective, and application of oil paint using a limited palette in his impressionistic technique.

Bob Way, recipient of many awards for his painting and drawing abilities, will be offering two classes for those interested in portraiture.

"Drawing Portraits" will cover the process of drawing a portrait. Topics will include posing and lighting a model, photographing the model, the proportions of the average head, sighting the proportions and placement of the features of the head to get a likeness, drawing materials, application of drawing materials, blending techniques and finishing the portrait.

"Portraits in Oil" is a followup for those who have taken "Drawing Portraits." This class will begin after a likeness of an individual is achieved as a drawing. Topics to be covered will include the composition of a good portrait, the transferring of a drawn portrait to a painting surface (canvas or panel), underpainting, portrait palette of colors, mixing colors for the portrait, the application of paint, and finishing the portrait.

Mary Ellen Warren is well known for capturing the beauty of flowers in her watercolors. Her class, "Watercolor Florals," will concentrate on how to achieve specific effects through various watercolor techniques. The goal is to improve skills with knowledge and exploration.

"Painting Clouds in Oil" with Eileen Strickland promises a successful learning experience. Strickland will help build confidence in painting dramatic skies as she covers the basic techniques, composition and formation of clouds. She will give detailed demonstrations and individual attention with a handout instruction packet for guaranteed beautiful skies.

Harry Neely's "Basic Techniques for Acrylics and Oils" is great for new students as well as continuing students using acrylics, water-soluble oils or other odorless media. Neely will share tips from a workshop he recently attended in an effort to refine his own skills. He will review the palettes of Old Masters and Dillinger's plein air palette, work on three-value massing, color correction, and finishing a painting.

He will give tips on the use of acrylics and oils garnered from contemporary, nationally recognized, plein air masters, as well as the latest trends in European art.

Students should finish or nearly finish a still-life painting. This class reviews the selection and use of palette and media, the techniques that develop depth and distance in paintings and give them "carrying power."

For those artists who would like to try something new using old photographs, "Collaging Out of the Box" with Sandi Stratil is a good choice. This is a two-day class that will show students how to do photo transfers to enhance collages.

Students will have plenty of time to work and will complete at least one collage and get ideas for many future projects.

Betty DiBartolomeo's three-day class, "Perspective from Your Point of View," will help artists who have difficulty with perspective in their paintings. Day one will concentrate on "One-Point" perspective with its effect on sky, land, people and values. Day two will concentrate on "Two-Point" perspective and its effect on sky, land, people and values and review of day one. Day three will concentrate on "Three-Point" perspective with a review of Day One and Day Two and a critique of old works. Students may work in any medium.

"Painting with Soft Pastels" with Betty Hendrix will focus on painting a landscape using selected photographs of places known and loved by the student. Several photos of the same place which were taken at different times of day or in different types of weather will be used to complete two or three paintings expressing a different season or mood or time of the day.

The class is designed to help students create paintings that express more emotion through the considered use of subject and color schemes.

Joanne Gill Worth will demo her continuing exploration of oil pastels versatility with the use of mixed media, rigid supports, oil painting finishes and significant increases in size. Her class, "Drawing and Painting in Oil Pastel," will be an intensive three-session class for those who like to draw and are interested in trying a new medium that is not only "beginner friendly," but non-toxic and very economical. It is beneficial both as an introduction to composition and the use of color for beginners and a "cross-training exercise" for those who work primarily in other media.

The goal is to have each student successfully complete at least one painting of a chosen subject in the medium of oil pastel.

"Impressionistic Oils" with Sara Gray will be a series of classes for the beginner as well as the more advanced student. Emphasis will be placed on composition, value and shapes. After each class, Gray will show a video by nationally renowned instructor, Richard Schmid, as a followup and reinforcement to class instruction.

Barbara Sickenberger will demo her "Basic Drawing and Perspective" class exploring the elements of value, line, shape texture, perspective and composition through seeing, estimating, comparing and executing with the relational right brain.

"The Other Side of Drawing" with Sam Macinta, will debunk the myth that art is a rare gift granted to a select few. Students will learn how to free their brains from intimidating roadblocks, such as noses, fingers and other "difficult" things to draw, that lower their creative self-esteem.

The ultimate goal of the class will be to teach the student to draw what they see and be able to do so with confidence.

The mission statement of the Artists League, a non-profit organization made up of over 200 members, is "to promote interest in the visual arts by providing educational courses, workshops and a friendly environment in which artists can work and exhibit."

"If you are new to the area and are interested in art, have ever thought you might like to try something new, take this opportunity to stop in and see the exciting things happening in the historic railroad warehouse building located at 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen," says the spokesman. "There is definitely something for everyone!"

For more information, call 944-3979 or visit the Web site at www.artistleague.org.