Fingerpaints {Jane} [Casual]

[HOLLY UROR]

Holly's mother had decided that she wasn't the one to teach Holly about art. Although she was a rational and practical person, she had the presence of mind to realize that her daughter was more creatively inclined. This in mind she had arranged to take her daughter to some summer art classes being run by one Jane Eyre at one of the city's galleries.

Holly herself had jumped at the chance and been excited for the opportunity ever since her mother had brought it up a week previously. Not only was she pleased at the prospect of the class itself, but also at the fact that her mother had understood this was the sort of thing she liked to do. Last summer the most exciting thing Holly had done was take a trip with her parents to the local library...she hadn't returned to the playground in years despite the fact the weather was perfect for it. Her parents feared for her safety even after all this time, and although Holly would have enjoyed being outside for once, she was still too afraid of the place due to what she had witnessed that day.

At long last the opening day of the art class arrived. Holly, dressed plainly in a polo neck, tights and pinafore dress, followed her mother dutifully into the building where the class was to be held, marvelling at all the art on display around her. Her reverie was broken by her mother's stern voice as she instructed her to catch up and stop dawdling.

The room in which the art class was taking place was bright and spacious, with plenty of sunlight coming through its large windows and making the art on its walls seem all the more impressive. Before Holly could even take her eyes from the walls to focus on the class itself, she heard her mother talking sternly as ever, to the woman who was running the class. The young girl tore her eyes away from one of the paintings to observe the altercation, not liking her mother's manner of addressing her would-be teacher but not wanting to interrupt.

"Now, you'll take good care of my Holly, won't you Miss Eyre? She's a rather delicate child, you know."

Holly didn't like how her mother termed her as being 'delicate' but she couldn't deny there was some truth in her words.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane was excited to start up a summer class. She spent her own money to get the space and the supplies for it. Not too many people signed up at first, but Jane was happy to have a small class. On the first day she dressed in an outfit that she would be comfortable in, linen pants and shirt. The materials were laid out and Jane greeted each student as they came in.

A particularly stern looking woman came in, directing a young girl. Jane went to greet them and was almost immediately greeted with a cold, uncaring tone.

"Now, you'll take good care of my Holly, won't you Miss Eyre? She's a rather delicate child, you know."

Jane brushed off the woman's rather harsh nature and responded with a smile. "Of course, Mrs. Uror. Holly will be perfectly comfortable here, I assure you," Jane said to the mother before turning to the young girl. "Hello Holly, I'm Ms. Eyre. I'm glad you decided to take my class,"

[HOLLY UROR]

"Of course, Mrs. Uror. Holly will be perfectly comfortable here, I assure you,"

"Good," Holly's mother replied with a nod. Turning to Holly, she instructed her to 'be a good girl, now' before leaving the building, intending to catch up on some work at the courthouse.

Holly had waved to her mother as she left, but when she turned back to Ms. Eyre, she found she was looking at her feet rather than the young woman. She wasn't all that used to meeting new people, even those who seemed as pleasant as she did.

"Hello Holly, I'm Ms. Eyre. I'm glad you decided to take my class,"

Holly looked up from her shoes as Jane spoke, smiling softly and resisting the urge to return her attention to the floor.

"As am I, Ms. Eyre," she said, in more a whisper than anything else. Her manner of speaking betrayed the wealth of education in manners and etiquette her parents had drummed into her from an early age. "It was actually Mum's idea, though I do love art, truly."

[JANE EYRE]

Jane couldn't help but smile knowingly at Holly. She was so quiet and shy, it reminded her of someone. When Jane had gone to Lowood she became very much like Holly, the teachers there encouraged it. If it hadn't been for Edward, Jane was sure that she would still be that way.

"It was actually Mum's idea, though I do love art, truly."

"Well, your mother is quite smart. If you love art, you should create art," Jane said encouragingly. Motioning for Holly to follow her, Jane lead the way to one of the front stations she had set up. Each station had an easel, small table and stool, sketch pad, set of pencils, pencil sharpener, marker, and two erasers. It wasn't much but it was enough for a summer course. Since there were so few students in the group Jane wanted them all up front. "Don't be afraid to speak up in here," Jane told Holly. It was something that Jane hoped the girl would take to heart.

With so few students, in such a wide age range, Jane knew that she would have to spend a lot of one on one time with each student. The youngest was Holly, the oldest nearly 50 and with Jane's high school based cirriculum, Jane had a feeling that she would be spending a lot of time with Holly, working with her on the assignments and lessons.

[HOLLY UROR]

"Well, your mother is quite smart. If you love art, you should create art,"

At these words Holly nodded vigorously; she had attempted some art in the past, simple doodles, drawings and the occasional foray into painting but nothing too grand. Her parents were house-proud and disliked when Holly requested the time and space for painting, in particular.

At Ms. Eyre's gesture Holly followed her to one of the stations that had been set up. Before she had time to examine with pleasure the wealth of materials (in her eyes) on offer, she was surprised to realize that all of the stations were right at the front of the room; she was pleased at this as it meant it would be easier to see what Ms. Eyre showed them, but at the same time her close proximity to the teacher was something she found somewhat worrying -the only teachers she had ever really had were her parents due to her home-schooling.

"Don't be afraid to speak up in here,"

Holly nodded again and smiled, but wasn't sure she could make those words ring true. Since she knew so few people, it was often hard for her to come out of her shell.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane smiled down at Holly, her heart clenching slightly. In a way, the little girl reminded Jane of herself at one point. Not at the Reed's, of course. Jane had been far too outspoken for her Aunt Reed's taste, but rather it was after being at Lowood for a couple of years that Jane had turned into someone very much like Holly. Quiet yet eager to learn.

"Something you should know, Holly, is that I am not one of those teachers who expect my students to imitate me. I will be showing you simple techniques and you will be in charge of how you use them. How does that sound?" That had been one of the reasons why Jane had been so resistant to taking a professional drawing course. So many art teachers were there to show off, their students were to follow their every brush stroke and essentially clone the instructor. Jane didn't like that. She wanted her students to have the ability to create art, not to recreate a single image.

She could tell that there was something in Holly that needed an artistic outlet. Jane didn't know what it was, but the semantics of it all didn't really matter. There was a thing in Holly that needed to be let out and Jane knew that art could do that. It was cathartic, the perfect way to purge demons and to clear the mind. Jane just hoped that Holly would enjoy art and not feel discouraged if her art didn't turn out amazing on her first try. There was no way that it was going to, but there was always room and the chance for growth.

[HOLLY UROR]

"Something you should know, Holly, is that I am not one of those teachers who expect my students to imitate me. I will be showing you simple techniques and you will be in charge of how you use them. How does that sound?"

Holly looked up at Jane as she said this, wide eyed and in awe. Her parents were firmly in the category Ms. Eyre said she wasn't; so long as Holly did as they instructed and followed them to the letter, she would be fine. To be given the opportunity to have a degree of control over what she did in this art class was liberating for Holly, to say the least.

"That sounds amazing!" Holly replied, somewhat breathlessly as she considered the possibilities. Ms. Eyre would show her how to create real art, but Holly would be able to apply her newfound knowledge to whatever she wished. Now, perhaps, she could get the drawing of the angel she had done before to smile rather than frown. She could draw a new angel altogether, or a whole host of them.

Holly moved to examine the materials at her station, now more eager than ever to begin.

[JANE EYRE]

Jane left Holly to look over her station so she could go introduce herself to her other students. There were only a handful and pretty soon, Jane was at the front of the 'classroom' ready to begin instructions. She wanted to start with something very simple, just to gauge where everyone was and to begin one on one consulting.

"Hello everyone! My name's Miss Eyre, but since this is such a small group, I think it would be fine if you simply called me Jane. Before I can begin teaching you, I need to know where everyone is at. For this meeting, use whatever materials you see fit to draw, paint, or sketch something that shows me exactly what you can do. Make sure to have fun with whatever you decide to do; I want all of you to enjoy art,"

With that, Jane stepped back to let the others begin. For the first ten minutes or so, she was just going to watch them. A large part of the artistic endeavor had to do with how people treated their materials. It was easy to see what sort of artist a person would turn out to be simply by watching them. For instance, a large, burly man in the back held his pencil lightly and Jane knew he would be a controled artist, focused on detail. Another woman's work station was already a mess and Jane knew that she would work looser, tending to the more abstract styles. Of all the students, Jane was interested in Holly; she wanted to see what style the girl would naturally tend to.

[HOLLY UROR]

"Hello everyone! My name's Miss Eyre, but since this is such a small group, I think it would be fine if you simply called me Jane. Before I can begin teaching you, I need to know where everyone is at. For this meeting, use whatever materials you see fit to draw, paint, or sketch something that shows me exactly what you can do. Make sure to have fun with whatever you decide to do; I want all of you to enjoy art,"

Holly's smile grew as Miss Eyre -Jane- spoke. Jane, Holly liked that name a great deal, and although she had only just met her, she felt it suited her teacher. But now, she had to figure out which art materials suited her. Before Holly had even considered which to try first, she knew the task would be enjoyable, not really a task at all.

The young girl moved her fingers over the materials, before finally settling on a simple pencil. Putting it to paper, she began to draw her usual angel, to see if her surroundings would inspire her, make it come alive. Despite the fact she used drew fluidly and with surprising grace for one her age, a small frown soon appeared on her face. The drawing didn't look right.

[JANE EYRE]

After her moment of observation was over, Jane began to move through the students, asking them about what they were drawing and why. She gave tips here and there, merely suggestions for the students to take into consideration. She taught through questions, asking each individual what could be done differently and letting them come up with the answer. They were all older, they could handle it because of experience with problem solving in the past, but Jane didn't think that Holly would have the same background.

Jane walked over to Holly, her hands clasped behind her back in one of her standardly demure postures. Holly was drawing an angel who was just a bit too elongated. "Hello Holly, I see you're drawing an angel," Jane leaned down, smiling at the young girl. She had a lot of talent for a child. Jane thought back to her first two years at Lowood, that was when she discovered art as well and she was just about Holly's age. "She's looking a bit long, but very pretty. Would you like to know a little trick to help with that?"

[HOLLY UROR]

Holly was so focussed on attempting to get her drawing right that she wasn't aware Jane was there until she heard her speak. The young girl started, surprised, but managed to avoid accidentally scrawling across her drawing.

"Hello Holly, I see you're drawing an angel,"

The ten year old nodded meekly but said nothing, still getting used to this new and very different learning environment, not to mention the pleasant nature of her teacher.

"She's looking a bit long, but very pretty. Would you like to know a little trick to help with that?"

Holly nodded again, though more eagerly this time.

"Yes please, Miss Eyre," she replied, not feeling comfortable calling Jane by her first name despite the fact the woman herself had requested it. "I would be very grateful. It doesn't feel right to be drawing a messenger of the Lord incorrectly."

[JANE EYRE]

"I'm sure the Father is just glad that someone is thinking of his messengers, their exact appearance not being the up-most important thing to him," Jane said lightly. The girl was so sincere in everything she said. Jane had the feeling that she didn't have many opportunities like this and Jane hoped to change that. Holly was already presenting such talent and a genuine love for art. Jane wanted to foster that.

"The trick I'm going to show you has to do with proportion," Jane picked up a pencil from Holly's work station and held it up, her thumb about an inch from the point. "You stay exactly where you are and hold your pencil up about half a foot from your face. Use your thumb to measure how long the head is. Now, the average person is seven heads tall. So, you use your pencil to measure out seven heads," Jane demonstrated as she spoke, counting under her breath.

"Your angel is about eight and half heads tall. Do you see?"

[HOLLY UROR]

"I'm sure the Father is just glad that someone is thinking of his messengers, their exact appearance not being the up-most important thing to him,"

"I certainly hope so," Holly replied, pleased at the fact Jane took her rather religious comment seriously. So many people, she knew from words exchanged between her parents, thought of her family as strange due to the devout way in which they lived their lives, yet Jane's words seemed to indicate to Holly a similar feeling. She smiled.

"The trick I'm going to show you has to do with proportion. You stay exactly where you are and hold your pencil up about half a foot from your face. Use your thumb to measure how long the head is. Now, the average person is seven heads tall. So, you use your pencil to measure out seven heads,"

Holly nodded as Jane spoke, listening intently and watching the demonstration with keen interest.

"Your angel is about eight and half heads tall. Do you see?"

Holly nodded, then tried the trick Jane had taught her for herself. She was right, the angel was indeed eight and a half heads, or thereabouts. Eager to please, Holly immediately attempted to remedy the situation by getting a fresh sheet of paper and trying again. She paused just as she picked up her pencil and turned to face Jane.

"Thank you, Miss Eyre."

[JANE EYRE]

"Thank you, Miss Eyre."

"Of course Holly," Jane laid her hand briefly on Holly's shoulder before retracting it. She was so quiet, so polite. Jane thought back to the woman who had introduced herself as Holly's mother; such a bold woman to have raised such a demure child. Jane couldn't understand it really.

"How long have you been interested in art, Holly?" Jane remembered turning to art as an outlet from oppressive figures in her childhood. Her Aunt Reed, her cousins, her abusive teachers at Lowood...every single person had pushed her to art as an escape. It broke her heart that a girl, a child, could be suffering the same thing.

Jane knew that art had helped her overcome her troubles when she was younger and she hoped that it could help Holly to do the same.

[HOLLY UROR]

"Of course Holly,"

Jane's hand on Holly's shoulder surprised the young girl somewhat; it wasn't as though she and her parents were adverse to such gestures of comfort and affection, but to receive such a kind gesture from a near stranger was greatly appreciated by the young girl.

She smiled warmly at her teacher once more before returning to her artwork. The angel was more proportional now, but her expression still wasn't quite right in Holly eyes. As she attempted to correct the angel's nose, Holly heard Jane speak again.

"How long have you been interested in art, Holly?"

"As long as I can remember, Miss Eyre," Holly replied, honestly. "I'm afraid my parents don't think much of it; that's why I was so surprised Mum let me take this class. Dad likes it a bit more, but then I suppose his church is a work of art in and of itself."

It certainly was an impressive building, with a wealth of stained glass windows from which Holly got a good deal of her inspiration.