What we offer:

Our NEW Winter Semester Open Studio will offer an opportunity for adults to work from a variety of still life arrangements exploring 2D work in a group setting. Each week the studio will be arranged with a specific still life that takes inspiration from the "lowly" subject matter conveying "high" symbolism of life, death, and everything in between, harkening back to historical themes that were prevalent during various eras of this popular genre. Still Life painting and drawing originated in Ancient Egypt and also Early Greco-Roman Times, but it really didn't really get much serious traction until the 16th and 17th C. Netherlandish and Northern European Renaissance. After all, the English term "still life" derives from the Dutch word "stilleven." Even still, artists today continue to experiment with the genre in their work. One advantage of the still-life subject, and why it became so popular, is that it allows an artist much freedom to experiment with the arrangement of elements and develop a style of working within a set composition. Take the French painter Cezanne for instance: who invented an entire art movement through experimenting with painting apples and oranges on a table. Not bad, eh? This Open Studio will include all materials you'll need. Participants will be welcome to choose mediums that they'd like to explore, or use a combination of mixed media during each session. There will be some instructor guidance and advice, but we encourage an open forum to experiment and develop your work, relax in into your process, socialize, hang out and sketch, draw, paint, doodle, etc. in a no-pressure environment. Students are welcome to keep their work at the studio for dry-time or if they want to re-work things during another session. Each Week will have a different historically-themed still life arrangement: Week 1: Pompeii and Herculaneum /(Roman) 1st C. CE. (then we skip like 1500 ish years... ) Week 2: Dutch Golden Age Early 1600's Week 3: Dutch Golden Age Late 1600's Week 4: Dutch Vanitas / 1600's Week 5: Chardin /(French), 1700's Week 6: Van Gogh / (Dutch), 1880's Week 7: Cezanne / (French), Early-1900's Week 8: Giorgio Morandi /(Italian) Mid-1900's Week 9: Georgia O'Keefe / (USA) Mid-1900's Week 10: Modern/ 20th C. Materials available: 2D Works only / pencils, charcoal, pen, oil pastel, color pencil watercolor paint/pencil, ink, acrylic, papers, canvas boards, and support equipment. Size restriction up to 18"x24".