21 Years of Creating at Aran’s Art Studio
Upon entering the Dutch door to Aran’s Art Studio, you are immersed in a world of color and creativity.
The walls of the vaulted ceiling studio are packed with an array of brightly colored canvasses They contrast the stark whiteness of the ceramics gently arranged on the shelves below. Opposite the untouched plates and mugs is a wall displaying glass creations bursting with deep reds, oranges, and blues worthy of a cathedral window. The far end of the studio is slightly shrouded with chandelier-style crystals that hint at even more art including an array of geometric shapes that suspend swirl after swirl of mystical-looking acrylic paint.
In the center of the studio are working tables chocked full of projects in various states of competition, each handcrafted by a person who initially claimed they have no talent for art. That’s where you’ll find Aran, who prefers that people call her by her first name, like Cher or Rhianna.
“I love to prove people wrong when they say they are not artistic,” Aran told the Forum. “People come here in a thousand stages of emotions—happy, sad, angry—and they all leave feeling good about themselves because art brings out the best in all of us.”
For the last 21 years, Aran and her staff have been proving a lot of frustrated artists wrong about their abilities. The studio holds several classes a week and graciously welcomes drop-in visits to create. In addition to painting ceramics, visitors can fuse glass, paint canvases, or drop and swirl acrylic paint on wood boards. The ceramics and glass are “fired” or baked at a high temperature, which solidifies the color to the plain white mug or transforms glass pieces into bold-colored sculptures.
“I welcome in everybody,” Aran says. “My wish for this community is that this is the place that they can come in and discover their inner artist.”
Aran claims that even she did not get into art until later in her life, which started when she took a class at the Adobe Art Center in Castro Valley. That led to a long journey of trying new things and helping others open up with art.
“Honestly, I decided to just start calling myself an artist about four months ago,” she quips.
The studio is the second location for Aran in the Castro Village. From 2001 to 2008, the studio resided across the parking lot between the bike store and the now-empty Hallmark store. There, she and her husband hosted art classes and a small café until his death in 2004. The current site has seen a steady stream of customers including ones who rent out the entire place for events.
“We book this place every Christmas Eve with the family except for the year the COVID shut everybody down,” says Brentwood resident Helen Howlett. “We’ve had as many as 20 people come in and create including my 5-year-old grandchild who loves to make art every year.”
Like many other activity-based businesses, Aran’s did shut its doors during the pandemic-lockdown phase. But the studio provided do-it-yourself kits for sale and hosted online video classes so that people could still create.
“My customers are amazing,” Aran says. “They have stuck with me through all the years. With all the suffering that has happened in the world, this is the time that art can heal.”
Aran says the studio is looking at doing a fundraising event for the Ukrainian people. The studio has also done donated proceeds toward other groups including Castro Valley Pride.
Currently, the studio is gearing up for a Spring Break Art Camp at the end of the month. Parents can also drop off their children for a few hours on Fridays as part of a “Kids Night Out.”
To see the schedule, visit aransartstudio.com.