The Creating Mixed Media Layers workshop here at the studio yesterday was fantastic! Everyone was on fire and they made beautiful art.
The workshop started at 10 am, with information and demonstrations on acrylic paints and mediums. Lots to take in and lots of great questions! Before lunch, everyone went to work on laying down some collage elements from the provided ephemera and their own stash. A layer of gel medium was also laid down for texture. Then it was time for lunch to give the paintings some drying time and all of us a chance to get to know each other better.
After lunch there were more demonstrations. Everyone chose their paint palette and got down to some serious paint "scrubbing". It was a lovely sound as they blended their paint over the canvas, obscuring some of their collage elements and leaving some more visible. The layering continued throughout the afternoon, with more collage, paint, stamps and stencils.
The most challenging part of painting is finding a way to "bring it all together" - I like to think of it as alchemy :) Everyone took a step back to look at their piece from a different perspective. Areas were made stronger or pushed back and glazes were applied to unify the overall look. The results were wonderful.
I am always inspired by the thoughtful way everyone interacts with each other and their enthusiasm to learn, explore and share ideas. Thank you Lin, Judy, Christine, Geneviève, Marion, Beryl, Joyce and Heather for such an exhilarating day. You made beautiful art!
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| Beryl |
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| Christine |
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| Geneviève |
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| Marion |
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| Lin |
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| Heather |
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| Joyce |
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| Judy |
So now you have some insight into what goes on in a Holly Dean workshop. There are still some spots left for "Creating Mixed Media Paintings", July 6 & 7. We will be creating two paintings, learning even more about acrylic paints and mediums, preparing a painting surface with gesso and getting more deeply into texture. I hope you can join us :)
See the Mixed Media Paintings video
here.
Sign up for Mixed Media Paintings workshop
here.
As always, there will be demonstrations, one-on-one guidance, sheets of very cool collage ephemera to use and keep AND full-colour, multi-page handouts crammed with information and pictures!
