Fall 2017 classes.
September • October • November
Please register no later than one week prior to the start of the class
Getting Abstract with Collage
Marie LaPré Grabon
Thursdays 9/7 & 9/14
6-9pm
Cost: $85 + $10 Materials Fee (All materials provided)
This will be a 2 day workshop for participants interested in learning a way to use collage to create abstract art. Working from a still life, participants will create three studies, one in oil pastel, two in mix media (watercolor, guache, oil pastel). These studies will be torn and cut and re-incorporated into a new whole … a picture that reflects the original still life but instills concepts of cubism and abstract expressionism. Participants will use line, color, and shape, to create dynamic, original and personal compositions.
Fall Watercolor Coloring Book Class
Jeanne Thurston
Saturday 9/23
10am – 12pm
Cost: $25 (All materials included in fee)
Come to a fun beginner friendly coloring book class- where we’ll use watercolors!
In this two hour class we’ll focus on Fall flowers, fruits and, of course, leaves. We’ll work on small 4” X 5” images where we can explore autumn colors, and watercolor techniques. This size also makes great postcards and I’ll bring fall themed postage stamps so we can share our creations with friends and family!
Help Your Voice Go Free – Writing Workshop
Jerina Page
Mondays, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/ 9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30 & 11/6 (no class 10/2)
6- 7:30
Cost: $50
Join the GRACE Writing Group to learn and practice writing techniques that will unlock the power of your writer’s voice, no matter what kind of writing you want to do.
Learn how to help smother that editor in your head. Premature, compulsive editing makes writing difficult, dreaded and dead. The changes and pauses between your consciousness and the page damps down your voice. You have a sound, texture and rhythm to your voice that when unleashed creates powerful writing and makes a reader listen to you. You may not like your voice, but it’s the only one you have and your source of powerful writing. If you keep writing your voice will get better and you may like it better. If you stop writing, you’ll never have a voice and never be heard.
Write nonstop 5 minutes a day then bring your favorite selection to our weekly group for positive, noncritical feedback. Your voice will love being set free and make you smile.
Materials: Pen and paper!
Acrylics: the medium is the message!
Marcie Vallette
Tuesdays 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24
6-8pm
Cost: $100
Acrylics have their own special charm as a water-soluble, fume-less alternative to oils that dry quickly. Acrylics have also be used to mimic nearly every kind of paint, from watercolor and tempera, to classical paintings and more modern textural paintings.
Here’s an opportunity to expand your understanding of this flexible medium. You may have noticed an array of mediums, pastes and additives in the art shop. So, what is gel medium and how do we use it? Why use retarder? How would I do a color transparency? What do I do to make a thicker impasto? These questions, and more, will be addressed in “Acrylics, The Medium is the Message.” We will learn about some of the mixers, the additives that change the texture and finish and application and blending techniques.
Along with exploring technical aspects, this is a fun studio class with plenty of time to explore on your own, learn from each other, and each class will include samples, demonstrations, discussion times for composition and color elements, a smattering of art history, and sample pieces.
(Students responsible for their own materials, see list below)
Materials list:
Surfaces: small stretched canvases, Watercolor paper cut to about 18 x 24 or smaller, A small jar of acrylic gesso, masking tape
Tubes of Acrylic paints: Mars black, Titanium white, Cadmium red, Cadmium yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber
Brushes: A variety of round and flat brushes, at least 3 of each.
Other: paper towels, bar of soap, jar, sprayer for water, 2 pallet knifes
iphone Photography
Nan Carle Beauregard
Tuesdays 9/19 & 9/26
6 – 8 pm
Cost: $50
Take photos you can be proud of! The iPhone camera is a powerful tool with which YOU can take excellent photos! This short course is an opportunity to discover the power of iPhone photography and how you can take photos that make you say ‘wow I took that!” In this interactive workshop participants will take photos and learn to improve their iPhone photos over two sessions. Come and focus your “iPhone eye” as a photographer! All levels of skill and experience welcomed.
Topics of discussion will include:
- The basics of the native iPhone camera
- Focus and exposure
- Composition
- Hints on landscape, portrait, macro and street photography
- Easy editing tips for exploring your own style
Equipment: Participants should bring their iPhone preferably iPhone 5 or later.
Clay Handbuilding
Joanne Vecchiola
Tuesdays 11/7, 11/14 & 11/21
6 – 8 pm
Cost: $60 + $15 Materials fee (All materials provided)
This three week class will begin with learning how to make a cylinder using the slab method, from there you can make a cup. Building a cup will give you most of the basic steps you need to know as you work with clay. In the next two classes we can continue to make cups, plates and bowls. We will have tools to make impressions as well tools for freehand designs. Exploring is encouraged, especially if you have some experience working with clay. I love drinking my coffee out of one of my own cups, and my favorite bowl is the one I made. Almost everything we eat, drink and serve from in my house is made by someone’s hand. I wanted to share how easy it can be to create your own!
Figure Drawing
Marie LaPré Grabon
Thursdays 11/2, 11/9, 11/16
6 – 9 pm
Cost: $100
The joy and challenge of drawing from the clothed figure.
A workshop for all levels of experience.
Working from the clothed figure participants will focus on proportion, foreshortening, attitude of the pose, and spacial composition, and personal expression. Participants are encouraged to bring whatever medium they choose to work with in this exciting workshop. Any questions about media may be directed to Marie.
Students responsible for their own materials
Along the Lines – Learn how to draw without fear
Sarah Spletzer Welters
Saturday 11/4 & 11/11
9am – 12pm
Cost: $85 + $10 Materials Fee (All materials provided)
(12 years and older (great format for teenagers & their parents) who want to learn how to draw – and might be terrified of it) *minors must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
This series of classes is for everyone who wants to learn how to draw and is not afraid to experiment with new ways of learning. If you feel intimidated by the idea of drawing, or you think you cannot draw – you are welcome right here! You will learn that drawing is all about learning how to see – the rest is practice!
We will follow exercises from Betty Edwards’ classic “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” and some practices that I developed and tested myself that will enhance our seeing eye and our drawing hand(s). We will learn some basics about perspective, light and shadow and human anatomy. We will work with a variety of high quality drawing material, both dry and wet, so you can figure out your preferences. All together it will be a solid mixture of theory, technique, practice and fun!