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Like many artists and crafters, it’s been an uphill battle to get going on that dream
you envision. You’ve attended classes and workshops, read books and magazines. You’ve accumulated a lot of techniques and ideas and perhaps a lot of artwork but you’re still not where you want to be.
Chances are you’ve never had the opportunity or taken the time to learn how to become a success at your passion. Lesley will take you by the hand, step-by-step, to help you get going, providing the tools and the guidance you need to create your future as a successful artist.
In ASAP (Artist Success Action Plan) you will discover Lesley’s proven practices and techniques for: finding time, creating focus, creating mental and physical space, getting rid of your big “but”, creating courage, giving yourself permission, creating balance, finding your voice/style, overcoming perfectionism, curing ‘bright shiny object’ syndrome, setting goals, self-motivation, putting yourself out there, finding your audience, building your following, and making money with your art.
ASAP consists of eight modules, plenty of worksheets and lots of handouts and resources, assembled and ready for you to use in class and serve as your handbook (over 100 pages!) at home. We won’t be making any art, just making art and success possible. There’s a lot to cover in this fast-paced class. You will make a great start on each module in class and leave with complete understanding of how to fully complete the program on your own.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent up on registration.
Tuition: $490
Lab Fee: $40 (Includes all materials, workbooks.)
Enrollment limited to 20 students.
July 8-10
Course # AABA Ø1
Music, nature and the visual arts have long found inspiration in each other, not only in the experience of these worlds, but in the systems of pattern and rhythm that each embrace. In this three-day workshop we will draw our inspiration from both the visual language found in the Idyllwild landscape and in small pieces of music as we create artist books. We will learn some low-tech printing techniques (pochoir and rubbing), make models of four-to-five book structures (single and double section bindings, accordion-folded structures, a stacked folio binding, and a layered “carousel” structure), and look at a variety of artist books for strategy and inspiration. You will take away at least one completed book project combining a system of marks derived from the natural world and inspired by music. Some experience in the visual arts or bookmaking is helpful.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $490
Lab Fee: $25 (Includes pre-cut parts to 4–5 book structures, extra paper for individual projects, adhesives and inks.)
Enrollment limited to 15 students.
June 28–29
Course # AAAS ØØAJune 30–July 1
Course # AAAS ØØB
June 28–July 1
Course # AAAS ØØ
Two two–day sessions
Students may select to enroll in one or both workshops.
Session I
June 28-29: Through the Looking Glass Lightboxes
You remember Pandora and how she released all the rotten things in the universe, all because she got a little curious. Well, if only Pandora had a little peephole or keyhole to check out the innards of that nasty ol’ box…think of the grief she could have saved us all. She would have looked and said, “Gee! I really don’t want to open that!”, and thus we would all be spending our time in Tahiti drinking whatever they drink in Tahiti.
In this class, we are going to put things right and create secret boxes or chests that can be previewed using keyholes and/or lenses. Not only that but we will illuminate the interior with lighting to make that mysterious space all the more revealing. On the exterior the chests will be adorned using found objects and the process of assemblage. On the interior students will create interesting realms to view, combining assemblage with collage. They can be places filled with secrets, dreams, or fears…locked away for safekeeping.
Enrollment limited to 20 students.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.\
Tuition: $335 for Session I
$620 for both Session I & II
Session II
June 30-July 1: Patron Saint of Discarded Things
As far I as know, there is no such thing as a Saint or Deity of Discarded Things, which is a pity because there are many like me who wander the highways and byways looking for bits of detritus to incorporate into artwork. Seems like an activity worthy of guidance or protection. In fact I recall one instance where I was traveling in Oaxaca, Mexico, in a large van with ten or so students. On the side of the road we passed a large dumpsite filled with oxidized goodies…and all of a sudden everyone in the van started oohing and ahhhing. The driver looked a bit bewildered, and wondered what in the world a bunch of gringos would find so interesting about an orange-ish/red heap of metal. Little did he know that to us, it was as if we came across the Holy Grail. The possibilities of creation were endless.
In this class, we are going to create a found object patron, saint or deity that will aid in our artistic endeavors of finding and re-creating from discarded things. Using some sort of structure to build on (such as an iron, a shoe, a phone, a shadow box…just about anything), we will create a place for our effigy to watch over our undertakings. This shrine will be filled with all sorts of unusual elements as adornment but will also serve as a place to add future bits of randomness.
Enrollment limited to 20 students.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $335 for Session II
$620 for both Session I & II
June 28-29
AAMC ØØ
Two-day session
Create a stunning! fiber collage by discovering the magic in adopting orphan quilt blocks and using these cast-offs as the foundation for painted fabric appliqué designs. This workshop, suitable for all levels, explores painting appliqués by sketching a subject on muslin canvas using a fast and easy technique that requires no previous drawing skills, and working with acrylic paints to give the sketch color and depth. The instructors will share tips and product information for making paints washer friendly. You will learn techniques for extracting these painted elements from their canvas surround, adhering each extracted subject onto a separate fiber surface, and how to create 3D effects with particular appliqués. We’ll also investigate and discuss design principles of composition.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $335
Lab Fee: $35
Enrollment limited to 20 students.
Course # AAMM Ø2
Four–day session
Learn the fascinating decorative paper process known as marbling. Students will learn to marble on paper and cloth in this intensive 4-day workshop. Designed to introduce the process and practice of this historic medium using contemporary tools and materials, students will learn every aspect of marbling, allowing them to continue at home. Students will learn about tools and tanks, how to mix the bath and colors, how to prepare paper, and will practice many traditional patterns resulting in a portfolio of beautiful papers. All levels welcome.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $590
Lab Fee: $60 (Includes all marbling materials.) Additional materials may be purchased in class.
Enrollment limited to 12 students.
Course # AAMJ ØØ
Two-day session
Experience an art journaling color explosion by rendering subjects using intense, high chroma, deeply saturated pastel art sticks. This workshop, suitable for all skill levels, explores the art pastel medium along with methods for sketching from a photograph using a fast and easy technique that requires no previous drawing skills, interpreting color, selecting dramatic color combinations, using drawing strokes to make purposeful yet random looking marks, working with glue alternatives for attaching miscellaneous ephemera. We’ll explore idea discovery for recording the everyday, techniques for developing your own masks and stencils, along with exploring the benefits of art journaling, overcoming the fear of a blank page, adding greater perspective by including your words/writings, and tips/tricks for taking photographs to use as page inspiration.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $335
Lab Fee: $20
Enrollment limited to 20 students.
Encaustic Monoprinting
David Clark
July 20–21
Course # AAEM Ø2
Two-day session
This workshop is an exciting introduction to the techniques involved in producing repeatable images while printing with wax. The purpose of this class is to expose participants to a wide variety of paints, papers, stencils and tools connected to the encaustic monoprint process and to give students access to varied printing techniques that will allow them to fine tune their prints. Students begin first by learning the basics and variables of the encaustic monotype: heat, paint, paper and pressure. They then progress to layering color and pattern using different types of stencils and masking in order to further refine their printed images. Students can expect to create numerous prints during this class encompassing a varied range of technical and intuitive process. Come discover how much fun monoprinting with wax can be. This class functions well for a wide variety of skill levels in printing, but some previous experience working with encaustic is helpful.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $335
Lab Fee: $80 (Includes all paints, papers and tools. Students will be given an allotment of a variety of papers to work with, and more paper will be available for purchase if you find that you are a very fast printer.)
Enrollment limited to 10 students.
FoundologyStephanie Lee
June 28-30
Course # AAJM ØØ
Two-day session
Join me for three days as we set out on a metalsmithing expedition of epic proportions!
With just a few basic tools strapped to our belts, we’ll don our expedition gear as we set out to bend, hammer, form, solder and explore various techniques in working with metal to unearth a soldered metal box and jewelry to go in it. Not your typical metalsmithing class, this expedition is designed to show you how to take readily accessible materials and tools to create totally original pieces
As we set out on our journey together, fresh-faced and eager, we will employ various wire wrapping and wire soldering techniques to create a three-part piece of jewelry that can be worn as a necklace with interchangeable pendants, as a triple-wrapped bracelet, or separated as a necklace and a bracelet. I will share with you my favorite tricks in my archeologist’s bag to create box pendants, found objects bezels and housings pendants, not-your-momma’s-wire wrapped pendants, link making techniques, and more. We will incorporate the found treasures from your digs to showcase their inherent beauty or transform them from plain to museum-worthy.
On the final leg of our metalsmithing expedition, we will construct a metal box to place the pieces of jewelry in. We will explore all metal boxes as well as mica-windowed boxes that allow a filtered peek of the contents within. Whether you like bright and shiny or aged and patina’d, you will unearth treasures aplenty in our metal-smithing expedition together.
Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.
Tuition: $490
Lab Fee: $20 (Includes sheet brass and nickel-silver, consumable compounds, butane torches, tools and supplies for use in class.)
Enrollment limited to 20 students.
Graphic Novel
Dan Archer
July 16–20
Course # AAWN Ø2One-week sessionFrom Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Maus to Alan Moore’s The Watchmen, graphic narratives have a unique capacity to tell complex stories through the simple combination of rich visuals and text. They have become synonymous with bold, innovative storytelling far beyond superheroes and encompass memoir, historical fiction, journalism, and more. This course offers a balance between the hands-on and the theoretical, and will begin with discussions of several key graphic novels as well as an overview of this hybrid literary form. Students will then learn the necessary writing and artistic skills to turn their story ideas into a realized graphic novel extract. Welcoming both newcomers and those with experience, the course will examine each step of the creative process: scripting and narrative arcs; thumbnailing; pencilling; inking; scanning; and production. Students will then produce a short graphic novel extract, that they will be able to take with them in both hard copy and digital format.Materials: A complete materials list will be sent upon registration.Tuition: $680Enrollment limited to 12 students.