EXETER – Three-years ago, Joanne Robert decided to fulfill a dream come true because at 52-years-old, it was now or never. Her love for art had filled her heart since her days at Pittston Area when her art teacher, Mrs. Finn, became an influence in her life.
The time was right, and it was a matter of finding the right venue to build her business of teaching art. The Cup of Paint studio opened its doors in Exeter and ever since then, Joanne hasn’t looked back – until now. COVID-19 has halted the economy, halted the world and slowly dashed the dreams of teaching art for Joanne.
Working out of home for many years before making the move to a studio, Cup of Paint has been conducting art classes at 1701 Wyoming Ave., Exeter, Suite 5 (Royal Bake Shop building location), teaching children and adults how to paint on canvas, wood signs, create wreaths and crafts. Joanne has also taken the show on the road creating mobile parties in outside locations or in one’s home.
Joanne has worked hard putting on birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers, bachelorette parties, home craft parties, and many fundraisers over the years to maintain steady clientele. But no one could have predicted at the beginning of 2020 society would be battling a worldwide pandemic.
“We opened in Exeter three-years (ago) on May 4, and I had my last class on March 15 right before we had to shut down.” Robert said. “I’ve been doing demos online to clients on what we can do once we reopen.”
Robert said she’s had no income for the last month and is facing another month to pay rent for May and she’s not sure how much longer she could hold on.
“I know people in the industry that are assembling kits and doing stuff for people to do at home, and I know the governor closed us down for a reason,” Robert explained on having contact with clients. “My feeling is to just wait until all this is over, hopefully soon.”
This past week, Robert held an online class just to keep her name out there and to keep children active.
“I feel children should be into art, and if I do this, I’d hope that a child will pick up a paint brush and start painting,” Robert said. “I’ve done two of these videos, and my goal is to do a project where they can find everything in the house without going out to buy supplies to do a project or come in contact with somebody.”
Wednesday night’s Facebook live class involved painting a landscape on cardboard to 10 to 15 viewers.
“We have been doing Facebook live to keep relevant during this time because you can’t sell anything, so you might as well go on Facebook to show what you have available is my philosophy,” Roberts said. “I’m sure parents are going crazy, so I thought if I could give them a break for 20-minutes to a half an hour to keep them busy.”
Anyone watching Robert could interact with her through messenger while she responds to viewer’s comments. If you’re lucky, you can see her cat, Crabby, trying to invade her workspace.
If you’re interested in learning more about Cup of Paint, you can go to Robert’s website at https://www.cupofpaint.com or follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cupofpaint for a live art class during the week.
