Past-workshops – Page 8

Thursday January 5, 2023

The Joy of Watercolour: A Playful Approach

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

Here is a great opportunity to enroll in an activity that is both fun and rewarding. Enjoy a relaxed and playful approach to watercolour, working small to start. Participants come away with foundational skills to ignite the passion to pursue the love of watercolour painting and art.

This class is designed to give students a firm understanding of basic art principles including colour, value, design concepts and perspective. Students will learn techniques through a variety of demonstrations, lectures, and personal instruction.

Students move forward quickly in the spirit of fun and experimentation. The goal is to increase awareness of the opportunities to paint plein air as one learns to compose, plan and execute paintings in the field. Nothing surpasses the subtle nuances and observations that come with painting from life.

Watercolour painting is a wonderful means to express one’s individual creative spirit.

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

Thursday January 5, 2023

Mark Making using Handmade Brushes & Tools

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

In this 3-part workshop, students will investigate the world of mark making with hand made tools. as a way to develop unique and rich ‘visual language’ as part of their art practice.

In Part 1, students will forage for and collect materials from nature. At this stage we are looking for a wide variety of botanical materials that we will experiment with back in the classroom. Students may also bring their own materials found in wild landscapes – forests, beaches, meadows etc.

In Part 2, students will choose from what they have collected and craft a number of mark making tools using a variety of material including jute, string, wire, scraps of fabric or wool, leather etc. Some materials will be supplied and student are encouraged to bring items from home to complete their own mark making tools.

In Part 3, using a variety of paper and inks, students will begin to experiment with mark making using their hand made brushes and tools. Students will observe how different media affect mark making and think about developing a rich ‘visual language’ and what these marks might communicate to viewers.

Students will look at contemporary artists such as Cy Twombly, Jose Parla, Julie Mehretu, and Lorna Crane, among others.

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

Check out MaryLou making marks with her handmade brushes! VIDEO LINK

Sunday January 1, 2023

Mentored Residency

This Mentored Residency runs for 7-days. Class time runs 9 – 4 pm daily, with lunch included.

The Mentored Residency is a unique opportunity offered during the MISSA Summer Program. The Residency is a chance for artists to sink into their own practice and focus on their own work or project, while being supported by an experienced Mentor. The 2023 Mentored Residency at Shawnigan Lake School, will be in an open studio setting, with each artist at their own work station, but sharing a large space with fellow participants.

MENTOR MESSAGE:

My approach to mentoring is to try and help artists to be as clear as possible in their ideas and approaches to their art practice. Most artists are constantly juggling a great number of ideas, influences and expectations as they try to make work that expresses something that is uniquely personal. My goal in mentoring is to help artists move closer towards that distinct expression. There are a number of ways to support artists who want to move forward. This can involve using examples of other artists’ work, suggesting alternate working methods as well as providing technical advice and problem solving exercises. Mentoring also involves helping artists articulate their ideas and providing support and validation for those ideas. Whatever an artist’s chosen subject matter or preferred working methods, I endeavour to help them make the work they feel they are meant to make. – Renee Duval

Prior to the MISSA Mentored Residency week at Shawnigan Lake, the mentor (Renee) will host two 1.5hr online meetings with all of the participants as a group. These meetings are scheduled so that participating artists can arrive for their week at MISSA prepared and ready to work and take full advantage of their residency. Before each meeting, participating artists will be asked to send a few images of their recent work.

At the first online meeting artists will briefly introduce themselves and their work and each artist will receive individual feedback and suggestions about creating a focus for their week at MISSA. The second online meeting will be a check-in with participating artists and their plans for their residency week. At this point, each artist will give an update about how their chosen area of focus is coming along, whether they are having difficulties, considering a change of focus, etc.

In this way, the mentor can provide feedback and further suggestions to help each artist develop a tangible strategy for their week at MISSA. Participating artists can thus hope to arrive at MISSA with a sense of purpose and of community, and to truly benefit from their immersion in a creative residency.

Interested artists are asked to apply for this Mentored Residency. Applications will be shared with the Mentor and successful candidates chosen in consultation with MISSA.

Mentored Residency APPLICATION FORM

Applicants who are current Friends of MISSA will be considered before other applications between February 7 – 14. Applications will be reviewed as received.

The Mentored Residency has a special 8-night accommodation package (July 14 – 21, arriving Friday July 14 and leaving Saturday morning, July 22). This package includes a single room with a shared Jack and Jill style bathroom. All Residency participants will be housed in the same dormitory wing. Accommodation price, which includes breakfast and dinner, is $1360.

Once accepted and registered for the Mentored Residency, participants will be sent an accommodation link.

Please see Student Supply List.

Saturday July 16, 2022

Savage Sashiko Denim Mending

August 3: WEDNESDAY EVENING WORKSHOP, 7:00 – 9:30 pm

We all have a beloved pair of jeans or denim jacket — the ones with thread-bare spots from years of wear. Here is your chance to give your denim a new and improved life in this hands-on workshop exploring sashiko embroidery. Sashiko is a traditional Japanese embroidery style used for repairs and reinforcements while employing decorative design.

By practicing “mindfulness” through mending, we will create unique designs and patterns. Just bring your favorite denim pieces and be ready for fun!

Please bring an article or two of clothing to work with (jeans or other woven fabric, not knitted). Scissors, thread and Sashiko needles will be provided.

Monday June 6, 2022

Creative Photography & Social Content

We have all felt it. The feeling of wonder when you see the perfect image. We take out our cameras and phones and we snap away. Our eyes and brains excited with the real-life memory of the moment. Then, when we get home and check out the photos… they just never live up to what we remember.

Creative photography at its core is about changing the perspective of your images, in a way that is hard to visually experience in real life. It captures your moments in a way that enhances the experience and builds on your story that will last forever in the image.

This course will be the most fun you have ever had with a camera.

Learn to use your DSLR, mirrorless or mobile device cameras in ways that create unique and powerful images. Creative photography takes an exciting change of perspective to create. Whether you are a seasoned veteran photographer or are simply looking to make better social media content for your brand, this class will help you reframe the way you take photos.

Jared, a full-time creative photographer on TikTok and Instagram brings his creative photography experience to MISSA in an effort the teach a small and exclusive class of students the secrets of creative photography. Planning, building, and composing creative images will all be part of the fun in a 2-day workshop format. Hands-on and practical techniques will be demonstrated and practiced helping you bring home an amazing set of images and memories.

Monday May 16, 2022

Mark Making with Handmade Tools

To begin, students will be introduced to the art of making their own hand made brushes and mark making tools. Materials for the tools will come from things foraged in the wild* – forests, lanes, meadows, ocean shorelines or lakeside. Once the materials have been gathered, students will turn them into mark making tools using jute, string, linen thread, wool, wire, and anything else they choose.

Once students have created a selection of tools, they will begin to experiment with different kinds of gestural marks. Students will be shown a collection of hand made tools and given guidance about how to make their own tools. The instructor will demonstrate some mark making techniques using a variety of inks – sumi ink, india ink, walnut ink and acrylic ink. From there, students will experiment on their own. These unique marks can stand alone or, be used in conjunction with other art forms such as hand lettering, painting, or printmaking. Marks can be an effective way of conveying emotion in ways that conventional tools may not.

* IMPORTANT Care must be taken to not remove any wild botanical materials from protected areas, parks or land that is privately owned. Please respect the land and the plants that grow on it.

Thursday March 24, 2022

Birds of British Columbia in Oils

Day 1: Jean will briefly discuss materials and how to paint in oils without using solvents. She will show images of her favourite wildlife artists and images of her past work. There will be a discussion of source material and how to choose a compelling photographic pose, theme and composition. The class will prepare substrates with abstract washes of colour and then paint wet on wet the first layer of bird and habitat.

Day 2: You will apply a second and final layer of paint including areas of glaze. Paintings will be refined as much as the student desires. “Bling” will be added such as the glint in the eyes and shadows under feathers. Class discussion will include questions such as “Bird feet – painting the sweet spot between wimpy and horrifying” and “Expression – avoiding angry bird facial expressions”.

COVID – 19: As we have seen, the pandemic is constantly changing as are the health and safety precautions mandated by Health Canada. The MISSA Summer Program brings people together in classrooms, dining halls, accommodation rooms and other communal areas and we must ensure the protection and safety of all participants. All MISSA instructors are required to be fully vaccinated and, in order to ensure the safety of everyone on campus, we are asking that student participants also be fully vaccinated. Thank you for your cooperation.

Monday March 21, 2022

Millefiori Doodles in Polymer Clay

Millefiori is an ancient technique that can be described as a combination of sculpting and painting. This technique has been applied to many different types of media, such as: Glass, Ceramics, and Wood.

Wanda will share her years of experience as an artist in the technique of Millefiori using polymer clay. Polymer clay is a medium that allows for the mixing and blending of colours to create depth, variety and contrast.

You will learn to ‘doodle’ with black and white clay to create a variety of interesting patterned canes. We will take slices of these cane components to collage onto a glass vessel or mug. Finishing techniques will then be demonstrated.

Your materials fee includes the polymer clay you will need and a glass vessel.

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Sunday March 20, 2022

Painting Here and Now

Painting outdoors (or plein aire) was popularized in the mid 19th century with the advent of portable paint in tubes. It was the latest, most radical departure from the standard academic practices at the time as it sought to represent the realities of contemporary life in the industrialize West in contrast to ideals still perpetuated in the academies and the tastes of the status quo. Pleinarism in many ways was the foundation of modernist painting.

In the 21st century, confronted with myriad new realities, a return to pleinairism once again may prove to be a radical departure from the currents in contemporary art practice. In contrast to the speed and “connectedness” of the technological age, pleinairism asserts the sovereignty of our attention and situates the painter directly in the context of the painting.

If we think of looking as a tactile experience, feeling textures, sensing the space between things and painting as a tactile act of touching, observational painting becomes a kind of synesthetic and reciprocal conversation with place. Place and people have always shaped each other, nature and culture are inextricably linked and when we engage with place, we also engage with ourselves and our common history with the natural world, in this workshop we will explore the concept that painting serves this mutual agency.

This course is informed by current discourse in mindfulness, ecology, phenomenological philosophy and contemporary art. The course will feature an introductory lecture about painting outdoors, its history and precedents, philosophical and social implications in todays context. There will also be daily group critiques on the progress of work as well as individual feedback and instruction (when requested). The structure of the workshop will be a brief daily meeting and proceeding to the locations being painted and painting all day. Each member of the workshop including me will endeavour to make two to three paintings during the course of the week. The emphasis will be on painting as an interaction with place and objects over longer periods of time through different light and weather conditions.

Sunday March 20, 2022

Ceramic Plant Portraiture

This two day workshop will teach you to capture an essence of a plant in clay. Experiment with tile: cut, fold, stretch, squish, slap, scrape to get a desired and distinct botanical element.

Day 1: Consider your personal style and the attitudes, location and personally of your subject. Hand make leaves, sticks + flowers, but perhaps how you could not have imagined.

Day 2: Explore assemblage techniques including pre and post firing options. Work to curate composition by seeing many iterations with the same components.

This class will be focusing on wet clay work. You will have to take your work home to be fired.