Little more than a month ago Cheryl Renee Long, a Kent-based artist, was driving through Maple Valley when she noticed the Maple Valley Creative Arts Center.

She pulled over, walked in and introduced herself to Mary Jane Glaser, president of the Maple Valley Creative Arts Council.

Next thing Long knew, she was a member of the council, volunteering to help out and more.

Long is now preparing to teach a watercolor class for anyone 16 and up.

An artist since the age of 3, Long first began with a tube of limited edition lipstick, using it to draw an entire farm scene on the sheet in her crib while she was recovering from rheumatic fever.

“By the time I was 12, I was a very serious painter, I was taking private art lessons,” she said. “I was never more serious than when I started taking watercolor lessons, it grabbed me with a passion.”

Later in life she moved away from art, but re-discovered it, finding “art saves lives,” even her own.

“I got married, had a child and then became a single parent,” she said. “I took a corporate sales job in the paper industry and I did very little art for 18 years. Then in 2002 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Facing down a life threatening illness, you might say I completely reevaluated my priorities. I left my high stress job and I started to paint again. I began to feel more complete and more serene. I realized that other people could also benefit from reclaiming their creativity and I began to teach the Artist’s Way classes. I am now approaching seven years cancer free and my goal is to reach as many people as I can to inspire them to overcome any difficulties in their lives.”

She hopes to pass that on to aspiring artists in Maple Valley through her “Fabulous, Flowing Watercolor” class that will be offered on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., starting Sept. 12, at the Maple Valley Creative Arts Center. (See all available classes and workshops at MapleValleyArts.com.)

“I actually was looking for a place to teach a class and I handed the whole (arts) council a proposal to teach a class there and they were thrilled,” Long said. “I said, ‘Hey, this is a creative arts center, this is the place to be teaching art. Plus 33 percent of my profits are going toward the arts center.”

Anyone who signs up for the class in turn will be helping to support her plans for future classes which includes one for middle school aged students in 2010.

“This first class I’m doing is for 16 and up, so teens, adults and seniors,” she said. “I really emphasize that seniors can be really rewarded by picking up art.”

Long describes her classes as “really fun and upbeat.”

“I will be focusing on getting them shamelessly enthusiastic about color,” she said. “That’s what flips people’s switch. If you get switched on emotionally to color you can be an artist. I am going to be teaching them the basics, but I am really going to be emphasizing how much fun and amazing colors can be.”

She also hopes the fun environment will help anyone with fears about taking an art class will be able to “leave those fears behind.”

The class will have open enrollment and Long said that anyone is welcome to just show up if they don’t get a chance to register first. Plus it’s no problem if you miss the first class — just come on into the second one.

And for those who may have a limited budget, Long added, the cost will be on a sliding scale so “if someone can’t pay, I want them to call me and we can work something out.”

The most important thing, Long said, is to turn people onto art.

“My big slogan is ‘art saves lives,’” she said. “I have seen so many people that are depressed or in pain really start to recover when they are involved in art.”

For more information on the class log onto www.maplevalleyarts.com.

To learn more about Long visit www.cherylrlong.com.