Bears featured in art workshop

"The reason I'm 'Michael' is I have eight brothers and sisters, and I'm the oldest. Guess what they [my parents] had wanted?" Michael Bania introduced herself to her class.

Bania hosted an art workshop at the Nolan Center Wednesday afternoon. Bania has been an artist for as long as she can remember, she said. She has written and illustrated several children's books, and is in the process of working on a new one titled "No Bears Allowed!"

She described her art style as cartoony and not overly serious. This runs in her family, she believes, as her father worked for Disney in the 1940s in storyboarding.

"He died when I was very young, but I somehow got cartooning in the blood," she said. "I think it came with the DNA."

Bears were the main feature of her art class, as she showed an audience of young and old aspiring artists how to draw cartoon bears. She said cartoon bears were easy and fun to draw.

"The basic bear is really just a circle," Bania said as she drew a circle for the crowd to see.

Quickly adding some ears, a nose, eyes, and other accents to her circle, Bania quickly produced a bear. She then encouraged the audience to try drawing their own bears.

Besides children's books, Bania's artwork can be seen on many logos, mugs, shirts, and other promotional materials for the 2018 Bearfest.