Winter 2016 : Class : Drawing: Sight, Response and Description: Amy Ransom Arnold
Drawing is a way in which we learn to see, respond to, and describe the world around us in a manner that is fundamental and singular. Drawing connects analytical and intuitive thinking, working alongside and enhancing verbal description to help process ideas. Practical exercises and guided discussion will cover: understanding the relationship between 2-D and 3-D space, learning the language of drawing, approaches to composition and expression, and drawing the ephemeral. Through the practice of drawing and the study of drawing examples, we will explore ways to connect thinking, processing, and perceiving and begin to find our individual voices within the medium. https://amyransomarnold.squarespace.com/
Winter 2016 : Class : Indirect Painting: Jeffery Stockberger
Explore the concept of indirect painting; developing an image and resolving problems through multiple layers of paint. Working from still life, students will concentrate on developing a painting’s composition and color palette by responding to and building on marks made on the canvas. Through group and individual critiques, you will work on establishing good oil painting habits and techniques. Students may work in other painting materials with the permission of instructor. www.jefferystockberger.com
Winter 2016 : Class : Beeginning Painting: Jeffery Stockberger
This class will focus on the fundamentals of painting and its craft. Through exercises, demonstrations and discussions, we will explore building a painting, creating a foundation, choosing a subject, creating a strong composition, working with light and color, mixing paint, understanding tools and creating overall good studio habits. This class is geared toward the beginner working in oil paint, but all skill levels and mediums are welcome. www.jefferystockberger.com
Winter 2016 : Class : Imaginary Herbal: An Introduction to Relief Printing: Joseph Beery
Students will be introduced to the history of relief printmaking and discuss techniques developed by various cultures to print from a raised image onto paper and cloth. Class work will be inspired by the medieval herbal. These printed encyclopedias contain beautiful woodcut images of plants meant to assist gardeners and foragers in creating early pharmaceuticals. We will begin by cutting simple floral images in soft rubber. After experimenting with these stamps, we will cut vinyl blocks (a modern alternative to linoleum) into images of plants drawn from imagination. We will tint small editions of prints with water colors, then trade them among class members. The final project will use hand-stamped pattern paper to cover bookbinding board, building small ribbon-tied portfolios to hold our print collections. Returning students are invited to join the class to receive direction in developing more advanced prints. www.JosefBeery.com
Winter 2016 : Class : Art as Exploration: Critique Class: Robert Stuart
Participants bring their work in any media for constructive criticism. The goal is growth as an artist through a deepening discernment of strengths and challenges in one’s work. Artistic development will also be supported with the study of current art exhibitions and topics in contemporary art. Exhibition catalogs, exhibition reviews, other articles on art, and pertinent visual material will be presented and discussed. www.robertstuart.net
Winter 2016 : Class : Monday Mornings on Beverley Street: Mary T. Echols
Join a great group of fellow BSSS members in looking at and discussing art and how it works. Enjoy sharing ideas and information, while learning about the many forms of art – both past and present. Participants will cultivate an enhanced appreciation for art and an improved ability to express artistic opinions. For all levels of education and experience. http://coartgallery.com/artist/echols/echols.html
Spring 2016 : Workshop : Still Life Painting: The Poetry of Objects: Al Gury
Instructor will begin with an overview of the history of still life and the materials and practices of painters through the centuries, then will discuss palettes, color theory, and suggestions for how to weigh the aesthetic choices, color and compositional ideas presented by still life painting. A demonstration will be followed by painting sessions from still life on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. A critique will follow. There will be opportunities to ask and answer questions regarding painting in general, and still life in particular. www.pafa.edu/faculty-members/al-gury
Spring 2016 : Workshop : Open Critique with Bill White: Session I: Bill White
My critique process is about looking carefully at the art work and describing what we see. Many critiques assume that there’s a right answer which gets laid over the work as a template, but if we begin with describing what we see, we can discover the difference between the goal and results. By focusing on the work as it is, and the disjunction between desired outcome and what is on the canvas, this critique will help you make your work better and stronger. Each artist should bring 3-4 recent works with a list of questions they want to address about their work. My colleague Lewis Thompson said to a student who was in tears after hearing several different evaluations of her work, “It is your job to listen carefully to the critique feedback but it is most important to sort through them to see what helps you the most, then leave the rest alone.” I trust you will be a good listener, leave your ego at the door, and sort through the comments to find the ones that resonate the most to you. http://warmspringsgallery.com/518/painters/bill-white/ or www.nelson-gallery.com
Spring 2016 : Workshop : Knowledge Bows to Spirit:
How can spirit be imbued into our work? Is it possible to communicate a feeling or awaken an emotion with our work? What makes us respond to some artwork and not others? This workshop explores the intersection of technical and spiritual practices in oil painting, particularly with regard to landscapes. We will first examine critical technical concepts that can improve any painter’s work, then transition to the spiritual. Study will focus on the spiritual beliefs of great artists in history, and how that inspiration translated to their artwork. Expect to leave with two very different oil paintings! In the words of NJ artist George Inness, “In the end, knowledge must bow to spirit.” Lecture, demonstration and hands on work from reproductions of classical paintings. For oil painters. www.laurenandreach.com
Spring 2016 : Workshop : Queen City Plein Air Demonstration:
Award-winning New Jersey artist, instructor and QCPA participant Lauren Andreach will lead an outdoor artist demonstration at or near BSSS as part of the Plein Air Festival. Lauren will demonstrate using the prismatic palette developed for plein air by the Barbizon School artists. Limited to 25 participants. www.LaurenAndreach.com or www.QueenCityPleinAir.org
Spring 2016 : Workshop : Developing the Artist in Landscape: Perceptual Painting:
A perceptual painter is essentially any painter incorporating their full faculties to make paintings. We will amplify the role of perception in our work: the cultivated and/or immediate response that comes through the use of one’s sensibilities, imagination, and memory, to the motif. Our goal is to paint our nature, and to know the nature of the thing we are painting. We will explore the topic of constructing personal narrative with the landscape and cover: the different roles that the landscape can play in relation to the painter, the integration of the landscape with the figure in creating imagery, and the relationship of formal and conceptual narrative and how to implement both in the painting with visual harmony. Saturday will be spent painting from the landscape and Sunday will incorporate the figure with the landscape both from memory and from painted studies. Emphasis will be placed on invention and the evolution of pictorial narrative within the image. www.brianrego.com or www.perceptualpainters.com
Spring 2016 : Workshop : Painting with Wax: An Introduction to Encaustics: Martha Saunders
This workshop will introduce the encaustic process. Students will learn to build translucent layers of color and use collage materials to create beeswax-based compositions on wood panels. There will be an emphasis on experimentation with this versatile medium: carving, embedding, fusing materials and applying color will all come into play. Not suitable for students with a sensitivity to melted beeswax. www.marthasaunders.com
Spring 2016 : Class : Figure Drawing: Jeffery Stockberger
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Spring 2016 : Class : Drawing: Sight, Response and Description: Amy Ransom Arnold
Drawing is a way in which we learn to see, respond to, and describe the world around us in a manner that is fundamental and singular. Drawing connects analytical and intuitive thinking, working alongside and enhancing verbal description to help process ideas. Practical exercises and guided discussion will cover: understanding the relationship between 2-D and 3-D space, learning the language of drawing, approaches to composition and expression, and drawing the ephemeral. Through the practice of drawing and the study of drawing examples, we will explore ways to connect thinking, processing, and perceiving and begin to find our individual voices within the medium. https://amyransomarnold.squarespace.com/
Spring 2016 : Class : Indirect Painting: Jeffery Stockberger
Explore the concept of indirect painting; developing an image and resolving problems through multiple layers of paint. Working from still life, students will concentrate on developing a painting’s composition and color palette by responding to and building on marks made on the canvas. Through group and individual critiques, you will work on establishing good oil painting habits and techniques. Students may work in other painting materials with the permission of instructor. www.jefferystockberger.com