Walk the art walk

As another Second Saturday approaches, you may be reading up on the latest exhibits, mapping out your walk or just planning to go to whichever gallery stocks the best free snacks. For a change of pace, here’s an idea: Instead of just looking at art this week, why not try your hand at actually creating something as well?

On Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Verge Center for the Arts (625 S Street) hosts its Clay Drop-in Studio, where you can learn the basics of sculpting and pottery. It costs $15 for members and $25 for nonmembers for the initial 10 pounds of clay, plus extra for glazing and firing. And on this particular Saturday, March 11, Verge will also host a Tie-Dye for Adults class from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Twist and dye the supplied white T-shirts, socks and scarves into a hippie’s dream while old cartoons play in the background. The nostalgic afternoon costs $15 for members and $25 for nonmembers. Check out the rest of Verge’s events at www.vergeart.com.

Hacker Lab’s calendar is full of cool classes, some of which are geared toward beginners. On Tuesday, March 14, there are two such classes from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Rocklin location (4415 Granite Drive): Basic Sewing 101 and Intro to 3-D Printing and Rapid Prototyping. Both cost $40, but you should check out all of your options at http://hackerlab.org.

Looking ahead: From Thursday, March 16, through Saturday, March 18, the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival takes over Cal Expo (1600 Exposition Boulevard). In addition to exhibits from loads of needle art supply companies, seminars and hands-on workshops offer the chance to take home whatever you make. Last year’s expo included classes on Japanese braiding and embellishing fabric postcards, for example. A $10 ticket gets you access to all three days. More at http://quiltcraftsew.com.

And if you’re creatively shy, there’s always Paint Nite, the informal painting classes held multiple nights a week in bars. (Read: Booze gets the artistic juices flowing.) Instructions and supplies will run you $45. For the full schedule, visit www.paintnite.com.