Watercolor group paints with all the colors of their whim

Natural light floods a room with wall-to-wall windows as members of the St. Boniface Episcopal Church watercolor group sit down to tables that are placed in a U-shape. Members meet for a free painting session every Thursday morning. Although there are no official assigned seats, everyone has a favorite spot. Some prefer the table on the end near the opera music, such as Jim Aguilard, while his wife, Jane, starts her sketching standing at a counter.

Many of the members have a cup of coffee on the table next to their water cups — recycled yogurt tubs. The session starts with chatter before everyone finds his or her groove.  It’s only a matter of time before someone lovingly teases someone across the room and everyone lights up again. This is just another Thursday at St. Boniface Episcopal Church.

"There's a church saying that you can sit next to the same person for 10 years and never know them," Jane Aguilard said. 

Some members bring in photos from travels; others use clippings of flowers from their own backyards as inspiration. Anything goes. The only requirement for the group, according to Jane Aguilard, is an interest in art.

"What brings us together is our mutual interest in painting and watercolor," Jane Aguilard said. "Some of us have been members for seven or eight years and we have gotten to get to know each other and become friends."