After a pretty long hiatus I am offering five week sessions again at the Oak Park Art League this fall! New class offerings are on Fridays this season, from 10:00am – 12:00 and then 1:00 – 3:00. Classes begin next week, September 12, and run through October 10. Register here and here. Right now there are enough participants that both classes will run, which makes me very happy, as I am excited to be back in the classroom! For those who were hoping for my long-running schedule of Tuesday and Saturday classes, Saturdays at OPAL are exclusively for workshops and Tuesdays were taken by another instructor, so I am trying this schedule out. Your feedback is welcome – just send me an email.
A few notes about the upcoming classes – I knew that after taking a months long break I wanted to offer something new and different in how I have approached teaching mixed media all these years. It is ever-evolving, of course, and in the past I have alternated between technique-focused sessions and project-focused sessions. This time around I want to emphasize experimenting and diving into the different reasons to combine various media to both free your creativity and to understand why you might choose working this way in your own work.
The first week we are literally going to spend two hours on how many ways you can create a line, then move on to a shape. You would think that would be pretty basic and boring, but it is the opposite of that! Beyond the obvious taking a pencil for a walk around a piece of paper, there are SO many ways to create a line, and each serves a different purpose of having lines in a painting. The first time I discovered carving lines into semi-wet paint was a game changer. I think it is important to spend enough time getting into one’s own creative zone to see what possibilities await. Each class I will do a demonstration and have samples as guides, and then students will have at least an hour, hopefully more like 75 minutes, to play and experiment.
On Saturday, September 27, from 10:00-4:00, I will be teaching a workshop called Mixed Media in Miniature: Create a Tiny Series. It is based on the fun I’ve been having creating small scale paintings this year and of course the gallery I built to house them! I will bring the gallery to help you see the 1:12 scale and take photos of your artworks on the walls. One reason I want to teach this workshop is that working on this scale forces the artist to see and divide the space differently than working larger. You make simpler decisions that emphasize contrast and a strong composition, and then choose a simpler palette to start with. You can add layers and details and build paintings the same way as we do in my other workshops and classes, but everything is scaled down. It is a really fun exercise in just creating these little gems, too. Register here.
One last thing for September – the OPAL annual fundraiser is on Friday, September 12, and one of the raffle prizes will be one of my mixed media five week sessions or day-long workshops. Tickets are available here.
Happy end of the summer! Hope to see you soon.
