Archives: Past-workshops

The Sewing Machine and the Artist

This is a 5-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

Students are invited on a journey of exploration to expand the creative possibilities of their sewing machines.

While focusing on learning through free-motion embroidery technique sampling, a basic sewing machine can be used as a creative tool to express ideas, and concepts, and tell stories in fabric and thread.

With guidance, students will work through the processes of painting with thread, making cords to draw with, using built-in automatic stitches expressively, sketching with a threaded needle, translating favorite inspirational images and drawings into thread drawings, and much more. As each student feels comfortable with a technique they will be supported as they work with the variables involved and continue exploring possibilities.

Encouragement to develop a personal vocabulary by applying learned techniques will result in each student’s work being uniquely their own. When given the opportunity to show their samples to each other, share learning experiences, and participate in group discussions the students benefit from being in a safe and supportive learning environment.

All ground fabrics will be supplied by the instructor allowing students to focus entirely on learning and creating with their sewing machines during classroom time. Students also expand their knowledge of the wide range of materials they can sew into and become familiar with the grounds they and their machines prefer to work on.

Material fee includes supplies provided by instructor.  See student supply list for further details.

Exploring Sectional Throwing

This is a 5-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

Challenge your understanding of the limits of the clay medium; open up new avenues of expression by learning the secrets of Arlynn’s seemingly impossible forms. Find inspiration to develop your own composite construction techniques with Arlynn’s guidance for altering and assembling thrown forms.
Learn the art of indenting and stretching to add interest and fluidity to your forms.

We’ll be making 2-part vases and 2-part bowls.

There will be a PowerPoint Presentation on why we need Sectional Throwing.

**1 SPOT HAS BECOME AVAILABLE IN THIS PREVIOUSLY SOLD OUT WORKSHOP!**

The Natural Studio: Sustainable Methods for Dyeing Textiles

This is a 5-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

Join textile artist Caroline Forde to expand your understanding of natural dyes. In this five-day intensive workshop the class will gain an in-depth understanding of mordants and tannins and work with some of the most famous colourants in the world: from madder reds to cochineal insect dyes to the intense browns, yellows, and golds obtained from petals, barks, leaves and roots.

Students will learn how to prepare a natural indigo vat, gaining a greater understanding of its unique chemistry. They will also learn the principles of caring for a henna vat while exploring shibori, a Japanese method for resist dyeing, alongside other resist techniques. Participants will prepare fabrics and dye multiple samples along with a series of colour tests showing shade variations.

The class will also explore eco-printing, a form of natural dying where colours and shapes from leaves and other natural plant materials are transferred onto fabric and paper. Students will have the opportunity to forage plant material around the school grounds to create their samples.

The outcome of this workshop is accomplished dyeing at a professional level. The workshop will move through the creation of more than forty colour samples on a variety of fibers using both cloth and yarns. Students will walk away with an assortment of fabric samples that they can turn into personal reference books.  The creation of technical samples, step by step instructions and recipes will be provided, allowing students to continue their natural dying explorations at home.

Material fee includes supplies that will be provided by instructor.  See student supply list for further details.

Hand-built Slab Teapots

This is a 5-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

Explore the many possibilities around the theme of building a teapot with slabs. Sandy will share some of her templates and the design considerations made to create them.

Students will be guided through the process of testing their unique ideas out and creating first on paper and then in clay. Basic handbuilding techniques will serve as a starting point for working with slabs, and provide an easy entry for all levels of potters. Consideration of both the form and the function will take place all while leaving room for each student’s creative take on what a teapot can be.

*THERE ARE 2 SPOTS AVAILABLE IN THIS WORKSHOP!**

Collagraph Printmaking: Experimental Image Making with Texture

This is a 5-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

Explore this unique and creative approach to printmaking to produce richly textured and embossed images on paper. A collagraph is a print made from a collage of a variety of materials glued onto a plate. Textural found materials are adhered to matte board and then inked and printed to create intricately sophisticated images.

In this 5-day workshop students learn how to use the tools and materials required to create their own collagraph plates, work on their composition with the instructor, and explore various ways to ink and print single and multiple plates using a hand-pulled press. There will be time for experimenting with colour and layering images.

This course is suitable as an introduction to printmaking or for artists who want to explore a new technique. Students familiar with this technique will be able to experiment with imagery under the mentorship of the instructor.

Material fee includes supplies provided by instructor.  See student supply list for further details.

A Bookbinding Sampler

This is a 5-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

This is an introduction to the fundamentals of hand bookbinding.   Students will be sewing and binding 2 different book structures, a German case biding and a more advanced Bradel binding. In addition students will be decorating paper using  traditional paste paper techniques, the results of which will be used on your books.

Finally, students will learn the basics of box making as you construct and cover a clamshell box to house both your bindings.  In this way you will amaze your friends and be left with skills for tackling future projects with a small kit of readily available tools.

Material fee includes supplies that will be provided by instructor.  See student supply list for further details.

Seascape/Landscape/Cityscape in Clay

This is a 2-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

This weekend course focuses on making 3-dimensional clay wall tiles, with the natural beauty of the West Coast shoreline/majestic forest as the source of our inspiration as well as a source of our tools. Also explored will be the interpretation of the environment in which each student lives, and how to express that particular place through similar
methods with clay.

Each morning the class will go on short walks through the forests and shoreline collecting natural treasures such as bark, twigs, shells, rocks, ferns… These found “tools” can be used to texture and decorate the wall tiles. As well, the student will explore ways to enhance and finish the pieces with “store bought” and “homemade” underglazes. Attention will also be paid to the environment from where the student comes, with discussion of possible textures and images that might be used to depict their unique environment. Frames and mounting will also be briefly discussed.

Material fee includes supplies provided by instructor.  See student supply list for further details.

**THERE IS ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT IN THIS WORKSHOP!**

Painting Expressive Portraits in Oils

This is a 2-day workshop.  Classes run 9-4pm with lunch included.

Learn to paint portraits full of life and expression.

Starting with short painting exercises, you will learn to mix colours that convey vibrant skin tones. Step-by-step, you’ll discover simple techniques for mixing tones that communicate the subtleties of skin as it appears in light and shadowed areas of the face – an essential skill that will give your portraits a sense of dimension and drama.

Building on these skills, you will create a full portrait painting from the ground up using provided reference photos (or students may bring their own).

You will begin with an underpainting process (or ‘imprimatura’), using measuring techniques to resolve the face’s proportions and general likeness. General shadow tones of the face will then be indicated with this paint, showing the faces three-dimensional nature before layering colour.

As you mix general areas of colour we will place an emphasis on value and temperature. Using ‘alla prima’ techniques and a ‘tiling method’ you’ll being to block in general skin-tones on the face. As you progress through your painting, you’ll receive hands-on instruction, helping add nuance and just the right amount of detail. Finally, through demonstrations and feedback, students will add indications of emotion to bring a sense of meaning to their piece. Along the way the instructor will provide tips and tricks about directional brushwork, colour subtleties and tonal values.

You’ll come away from this course with the tools you need to paint your own captivating portraits in oils!

Material fee includes supplies that will be provided by instructor.  See student supply list for further details.