Past-workshops – Page 9

Friday March 18, 2022

Figure Gestures

In this terracotta sculpture course students will do a deep dive into gesture – how to find emotion and meaning behind figurative poses. The slightest turn of a head, placement of a hand or downward glance can change the connotation of how a story is told. Students will explore historic meanings of gesture in art, ways of directing focus and challenging understanding. Students will be using a variety of hand-building techniques, using paper, and foam armatures.

The artist as story-teller through the figure.

NOTE: There will not be a firing for this workshop.

Friday March 18, 2022

Monotype: The Painterly Print

Join printmaker Heather Aston for a week of monotype printmaking. This unique process provides the artist with tools and materials that yield unparalleled results that are often innovative and surprising. Exploring watercolour, oil based etching inks, lift prints, chine collé and layered techniques you will progress through a series of steps, that will open new possibilities for expression.

Students will receive individual attention regarding drawing, painting and composition while ultimately pulling prints from a plexiglass matrix to paper using a manual press. The excitement of transformation and discovery is inherent in this media and is sure to inspire and fascinate participants. There will be discussion and class critiques throughout the week.

Friday March 18, 2022

Surface Design & Block Printing on Fabric

In this workshop Mo will guide you through the process of block-printing on fabric and surface design. We will begin with simple repeat patterns with one colour and then work our way to more complex and mutli-coloured patterns throughout the week. We will explore a variety of printmaking techniques from ombre rolls, three block prints, jigsaw prints and collagraphic techniques and how this can be applied to fabric.

Mo will teach you how to create off-set prints and how to register your stamps so your printed fabric has a professional look. Each day Mo will introduce a new design principal with a daily emphasis on you finding your own creative language.

Friday March 18, 2022

Pots that Sing: Naked Raku

In this multi-faceted workshop, Ellen will share her favorite tools, tips and techniques that add dynamic textures and finishes that make the surfaces of her work sing. Students will learn to create a variety of forms using soft slab construction and will also learn to make and use latex rubber molds which will be theirs to keep.

The week will also include the excitement and drama of Naked Raku firing. Students will participate in utilizing slips, horsehair, feathers and ferns to bring about some unexpected and unique surfaces. Topping that off will be the application of post firing finishes that really bring the work to life. It promises to be an action packed week of pottery fun.

ADDITION TO THE STUDENT SUPPLY LIST: For Naked Raku, please bring 5-7 bisqued pots, less than 8″ in diameter.

Wednesday March 16, 2022

Pots that Serve

This class will focus on some fun techniques that can be used in making unique serving dishes and vessels. This course is best for students with some competency on the wheel. The first part of day one will be demonstrating some techniques such as double walled vessels, rolled rims, throwing and altering a form and adding a lid, and discussing some practicalities of using pots for serving. The afternoon will be for students to start on some of their own pieces.

Day 2 will be spent on finishing and assembling some of the previous day’s work and some decorating techniques such as stamping and texturing, mishima, water water etching and rice paper transfer designs and how to use them. Hopefully these skills will help to bring some excitement to tableware and serving dishes! This is a hands-on class and the instructor will help students experiment with these techniques.

NOTE: Work will NOT be fired but can be taken home by participants.

Wednesday March 16, 2022

Lumen Prints: Photography without a Camera

In this workshop, the lumenprint (cameraless photograms) image making process will be explained and demonstrated. There will be an opportunity to participate in the printmaking process beginning with gathering materials, composing images, developing prints and sharing feedback among participants.

* This instructor has generously donated a piece of art, “Chesterman Beach Portrait ”, that will be available to bid on at the Celebration Auction.

Wednesday March 16, 2022

Deep Dive Into Bowls

Beloved by cooks and potters alike, bowls are, on the surface, simple, but full of nuance and complexity when details such as rim, foot, volume, proportion and weight are studied. In this 2 day wheel-throwing workshop, dive deep into bowls. the class will begin by spending time looking at and talking about forms, then move on to wheel throwing exercises designed to improve the students’ consistency and control. Focus on details that express the object’s character.

On day two, students will work with leather-hard forms and explore the possibilities of this stage: stamping, trimming, carving & constructing. Play with bowls as building blocks for larger and more complex objects. They may use this workshop purely for skill building and 3-d sketching, or plan to take home and fire leather-hard to dry pieces.

Monday March 14, 2022

Drawing with a Sewing Machine

Learning to draw with a sewing machine adds another medium to your art toolbox. During this 2-day workshop, you will be introduced to using a basic sewing machine to practice drawing exercises such as contour drawing, gestural studies, and color shading.

You will also learn other drawing methods unique to the sewing machine such as couching and cut-back applique.
A sewing machine is provided and previous drawing experience is not required.

If you know how to operate a basic sewing machine and you are ready to learn more, this workshop is for you.

Sunday March 13, 2022

Creating Unexpected Forms with Slabs

This course will explore a variety of slab building techniques that Sandy uses to create her hollow forms. There will be a focus on taking ideas from two dimensions to three dimensions and using paper templates as a guide. Sandy will share how she creates her templates and how they evolve as she uses them and learns from them. The slab is such an incredible foundation for exploring curves and rounded shapes that when combined and attached together create surprising results. The use of slump and hump molds to shape slabs and add volume is an integral part of the building process. Participants will have the opportunity to create their own simple molds and examine how to use existing objects in the studio and home as foundation for shaping their slabs.

Sandy will demonstrate how she at times leaves her paper templates behind and works intuitively to solve building challenges and follows the clay as it informs her process. She will also discuss and demonstrate how the building process changes as the objects being sculpted change in scale and the solutions she has found for working with midsize and larger work. This class will be a balance between demonstrations and participation as the techniques presented are put into practice as participants explore their own creative ideas.

Sunday March 13, 2022

Poetry: Form and Line

Poetry is more than metaphor, rhythm and rhyme – it is also an exploration of form, of how the poem is broken into lines or phrases of language and how poets use the tools available through formal constraints. In this course students will write in a variety of long and short forms and will focus on lineation and how line in poetry works to expand meaning, metaphor, and impact of the poem. The course will consist of in-class writing, as well as homework to refine poems started in class. We will also read poems from Canadian and World poets to explore how poets work with line and form.

Over the five days students will move from thinking about line and line length to using the stanza as a unit in poetry, to dabbling in form poems such as sonnets and triolets, to considering how space in the line, between stanzas, and leaps in language can create shifts in meaning.

This is a hands-on class involving language, play and form. There will be the opportunity for one-to-one time with the instructor, evening discussions and readings.