Arts Benicia
Classes & Workshops
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PRINTMAKING
Etching/Intaglio, Relief, Monotype
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Instructor: William Harsh
June 19 to July 31, Saturdays, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
NO CLASS JULY 3
$135/member | $148/non-member
Six 3-hour sessions, option to continue working after class, with no instructor supervision, for a $15 Lab Fee per day
Printmaking is one of the oldest fine art forms, and has attracted
artists throughout the centuries for its rich graphic qualities, the marriage
of ink and paper unique to the medium, and the pleasure of its processes.
This course is designed as an introduction to four traditional fine art printmaking forms: Monotype
(unique single image prints), Etching/Intaglio (multiple prints made from
etched metal plates or metal plates otherwise worked with tools), Relief (multiple
prints made from cutting wood planks and linoleum and related materials), and
Collograph (a hybrid form combining intaglio and relief methods).
Students may opt to try all four forms, or concentrate on one or two if they wish. The
class is also for more experienced artists who would like to continue their development
of any or all of the four printmaking approaches. Students will work in a well-equipped
printmaking studio/classroom which includes a large 3' by 6' etching press, and
a small etching press.
A materials list will be reviewed and distributed at the first class session.
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William Harsh, monotype print
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William Harsh is an artist with over 25 years of dedicated studio practice. Primarily
an oil painter, he also works extensively with other painting and drawing media
and with monotype printmaking. Raised in Europe and the US, he studied with Philip
Guston and James Weeks at Boston University, and has for many years taught studio
art at colleges in New England and California. His work is included in numerous
collections in the US, Canada, and Europe. For the past seven years he has taught
numerous classes in the studio art education program at Arts Benicia.
Click here to view more of William's work online.
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PAINTING
Instructor: Jody Mattison
April 18 - June 6, Sundays 1:00 - 4:00 PM
$135/member | $148/non-member
All levels of experience welcome... from representation to abstraction, 'alla prima'
to glazing techniques. Weekly demonstrations will include topics such as composition,
observation of light and color, paint handling and tools of the trade, painting
as a process, quick studies, visual and atmospheric perspective. Other relevant
topics might be included as requested.
Instructor will be on hand for personalized help. Individuals
are welcome to bring in their own subject matter or reference; still life set-ups
will be available, and painting outside is also encouraged. Eight 3 hour sessions.
Oil or water-based paints.
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Jody Mattison
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Jody Mattison is an accomplished painter, portrait artist, and instructor, working in the Bay Area for over 15
years. An MFA graduate from Academy of Art College, her work has been published
in International Artist, juried into the Crocker-Kingsley Biennial 2005, and is
in numerous collections across the country and internationally. For the past 6
years she has taught color theory, design and drawing, figure drawing and painting
at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and Civic Arts Education in
Walnut Creek.
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"Seeing" and the Language of Line and Color
Instructor: Lee Wilder Snider
May 16 - July 11, Sundays 5:30 - 7:00 PM
$90/member | $100/non-member
No Class July 4
This course is about art and the joy of "seeing." It is designed to encourage you to be alive as an artist and look with wonder at the world. You will explore basic drawing and painting fundamentals to help give voice to what you see.
The first four sessions focus on drawing. Drawing is about learning to look. In drawing, you will perceive edges, judge relationships and proportion, discover positive and negative space, determine lights and shadows and experience the "thingness" of an object. We will experiment with a variety of materials from charcoal and conte crayon to ink, marker and watercolor.
The last four sessions investigate color and paint. We look at color (hue, value and intensity), color theory and general painting techniques (washes and glazing to impasto and palette knife.)
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Lee Wilder Snider
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Lee Wilder Snider is skilled in many areas of the visual arts from painting and large-scale murals to graphic design. Her employment has ranged from working as a free-lance illustrator for Rand McNally to contract work in theater set design and painting with Opera Theater Corvallis. As a muralist, Lee has received public art grants in Oregon and California.
Lee has many years of experience as an arts educator. With a master’s degree and secondary teaching credential, she has been a drawing instructor at Southwest Oregon Community College, developed arts curriculum for public and private schools, taught in secondary schools, and served as an “artist-in-residence” in schools throughout Oregon.
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Encaustic Painting
Instructor: William Harsh
April 28 - June 2, Wednesdays 6:30 - 9:30 PM
$200/member | $220/non-member
Limit: Six Students
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Encaustic (painting with pigment suspended in molten beeswax) is one of the world's oldest and most permanent painting mediums. The unique and seductive qualities inherent in encaustic have been rediscovered and employed by contemporary artists such as Jasper Johns, among many others. Encaustic is known for it's extremely rapid drying (by cooling), versatile range of applications, and its characteristic velvety surface and color quality.
This class will serve as a thorough introduction to encaustic painting, and will equip participants with all of the knowledge they need to get started in the medium. Topics covered will include: equipment, materials and tools; supports and substrates; how to make encaustic paints and encaustic medium; fusing and painting with heat sources; painting techniques and approaches; incising and inlaying; use of masks and stencils; collage techniques; image transfer techniques; encaustic used with other media; and framing and display options.
Instruction will also focus on the larger aesthetic and expressive issues of painting: generating and developing ideas, creative thinking, drawing, design, composition, and the relation of the visual to expression. Special emphasis will be given to color theory, harmony, and color mixing. Instruction will also be buttressed by examples from painting history and from modern and contemporary work.
A materials and sources of supply list and bibliography will be distributed at the first class meeting.
Note:
• due to current electrical limitations in the Arts Benicia studio classroom, encaustic students may have to share a hot plate palette with another student.
• For students new to encaustic, be prepared for an outlay of between $200 and $300 for a basic kit of encaustic paint, medium, brushes, supports, equipment, and other items.
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Photography
Instructor: Karl Nielsen
May 8 - June 6, Saturdays 4:00 - 6:00 PM
$70/member | $85/non-member
Photography is more ubiquitous now than ever before and is quickly changing the
way that we see the world. No longer is photography simply a method to capture a
momentous occasion or a portrait. Today, the camera is an ever-present means to
create an omnipresent iPhone-delivered, Facebook and Google-enhanced visual
tapestry.
This class aims to educate the casual or serious photographer about the
fundamentals of composition to help produce better quality photos that will stand
out in the visual cacophony. The class will all so focus, in part, on discussing
photos that are masterful examples of photo techniques.
Classes will meet at Arts Benicia classroom, once a week for two hours at a time
and at least once at another location in the Bay Area to photograph different
subjects and landscapes.
Because it is easier to learn with a digital SLR camera, students are STRONGLY
ENCOURAGED to use a digital SLR camera for this class. But something as basic
as an I-phone camera or as classic as a 35mm film camera is also acceptable.
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Karl Nielsen graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2007 with a Bachelor's of Fine
Arts degree with an emphasis in photography. He has worked as a freelance
photographer for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the City of San
Francisco, public and private universities throughout California, and a variety of
print media, including the San Francisco Chronicle. Karl has spent the last several years traveling,
working and photographing his way around the world. His eccentric passion for the outdoors has taken him
all the way to the South Pole and Alaska. He never wastes any opportunity to travel or get outdoors and
do something exciting. Photography seems to go along with his lifestyle like cherries go with chocolate.
Utilizing his determination, fun-loving and creative personality, he has established himself in the last
few years as reliable and versatile photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
His work can be seen at www.karlnielsenphotography.com.
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Plein Air Workshop
Instructor: Jerrold Turner
May 8, Saturdays 10:00 - 3:00 PM
$90/member | $100/non-member
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Workshop will meet at the Arts Benicia Gallery at 10 AM, and then caravan to a location chosen by the instructor. Upon arriving on location,
instructor will provide a demonstration and short introduction to plein air painting.
Painting session will last from 10:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon, with a brief lunch break around noon (participants must bring their own lunch).
The workshop will conclude with a group critique will be conducted from 2:00 – 3:00.
Materials: Participants are responsible for providing their own materials.
Arts Benicia will provide beverages and some snacks, but work shop participants should bring their own bag lunch.
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Jerrold Turner
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Jerrold Turner is one of the Bay Area's prominent landscape painters and a founding member of The Outsiders,
a group of plein-air painters whose colorful, fauvist style relates back to such groups as the Society of Six and other colorists.
Jerry is primarily self-taught, though he studied privately with Lundy Siegriest, Martha Borge, Patricia Edwards and Peter Blos.
He had been very influential in the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area and has taught advanced plein-air painting since 1991, and
curated exhibits for Arts Benicia Center Gallery, Benicia, CA.
He has a M.S. in engineering from University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Turner has exhibited very extensively in solo and group exhibitions and his works appear in collections worldwide.
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Introduction to Monotype Workshop
Instructor: William Harsh
June 5 and 12, Saturdays 9:00 - 4:00 PM
$100/member | $120/non-member
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Monotype is a painterly and versatile printmaking medium that can accommodate a wide range of approaches, and combines the directness of
painting with the graphic qualities of the hand printed image.
This intensive two day workshop will introduce students to monotype printmaking by means of the classic "black field manner" of
painting and drawing on the plate. If time permits, we may work in color as well.
Topics covered by both demonstration and individual instruction will include: Additive and subtractive drawing and painting approaches;
use of oil based etching inks with brushes, brayers, rags, and other tools; use of the etching press to get excellent prints; drawing,
composition, and organization of values in black and white, and the use of limited color (if time permits).
Both beginners and experienced artists are welcome, and students can work at their own pace. Students can expect to produce
two or three or possibly more finished prints during the workshop.
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Materials List:
For this workshop certain specialized, hard to find materials will be provided for a $10 fee, payable to the instructor at the first class session. These materials will include:
- Plexiglass plates, to be used only for the workshop and returned
- Printmaking brayers, to be used only for the workshop and returned
- Black, white, and colored oil based lithographic inks and/or etching inks
- Paint thinner for clean-up use
- Plate oil
- Backing paper
- Monotype painting medium and ink conditioners
- Various auxilliary tools and materials that are for common use
The instructor can sell workshop students special printmaking paper we use for monotype at cost. This is white Rives BFK printmaking paper, 19 x 22" in size. It is $3.00 per sheet. Two or three sheets will probably suffice for the workshop. If you already have white Rives BFK paper, or a comparable white printmaking paper, you may bring it to use.
Workshop students need to bring the following materials to the first class that they have purchased or already have:
- Pint of oderless (please, ONLY oderless) paint thinner (available at Home Depot or Ace Hardware or possibly other hardware stores)
- A small selection of oil painting hog bristle brushes: flats, brights, filberts, and/or rounds of various widths; If you already have watercolor type brushes, bring those as well, although they are not essential. Michael’s Arts and Crafts supply (a chain sore in many areas) is a good source for inexpensive hog bristle brushes and watercolor brushes.
- Large apron
- Flexible palette knife -trowel shaped is best; plastic knife OK. available at any art supply store.
- A few single edged razor blades (box of five available at hardware stores)
- Large box cotten swabs ("q-tips")
- Oil or acrylic painting brushes, if you already have them
- Several empty cat food or tuna cans
- A few rags
- Box facial tissue (Kleenex)
- Roll paper towels
- Any sketches, drawings, designs, or other material that you might choose to work from.
If you have materials from previous work in monotype or painting, feel free to bring them and we will see if they are suitable for this workshop.
Also, we will break for lunch between 12 noon and 1 PM each Saturday. Bring a bag lunch if you would like.
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Figure Drawing Studio
No Instructor
1st & 3rd Tuesday/Month, 7:00 - 10:00 PM
$35/member, $45/non-member | Drop-In: $20/member, $25/non-member
These ongoing sessions allow artists to challenge their drawing skills while developing
a better understanding of human form and movement. The three-hour session begins
with short poses for warm-up gesture drawings, and then gradually increases to
20-minute poses. The professional artists' models are from the Bay Area Models Guild.
Bring your own drawing materials; a number of easels are available for use.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BENICIA FIGURE DRAWING GROUP, click here
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Lowell Dalton, figure drawing
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The mission of the Education Program is to provide a learning environment for the
exchange of ideas and information and to inspire the community to develop its
creative potential. Our community is very fortunate in having many professional studio artists who are
also gifted teachers, and who have provided highly skilled instruction over the
years in a caring, attentive classroom environment.
Registration Information:
Please register for your class at least one week before it begins. Arts Benicia's instructors
are independent contractors and determine their own fees, class size, content,
and style of instruction. It is not necessary to be a member of Arts Benicia to
take classes, but we do appreciate the support your membership provides. Once
registered, you will not receive registration confirmation unless a class is full
or cancelled.
Cancellation and Refunds:
Early registration is encouraged. Our instructors need adequate time for preparation
and purchase of materials. Minimum enrollment must be met at least one week prior
to the first day of class or there is a possibility of cancellation. No refunds
will be given after a week before class begins. If enrollment is insufficient
and the instructor cancels a class, your fee will be refunded or transferred to
another class of your choice. Classes cannot be prorated.
Testimonials
"For me the best thing
about taking Arts Benicia classes has been the ability to learn various printmaking
techniques, while learning about art theory and art history in the process from
instructors who possess an amazing amount of expertise. The atmosphere is relaxed
and encouraging, and time is always given to personalized instruction that suits
the needs of beginners and experienced artists alike. I've learned more in a short
time about art at Arts Benicia than in many classes taken previously elsewhere.
These classes have provided me with a way to rediscover and nurture my artistic
self, and enriched my life tremendously."
Geri Lujan is an IT Business Consultant in the field of health care. For 4 years
she has taken classes in Printmaking, Oil Painting, Color Theory, Drawing and
Silver Clay Jewelry.
"The best things about the classes at Arts Benicia are the excellence of the teaching
staff, and the community of people interested and working in the same medium.
Consistent access to the well equipped printmaking studio is a huge asset."
Ronna Leon, a Puppeteer, has broadened her artistic skills during the last 6 years with AB classes in Printmaking,
Color Theory, Perspective, and Drawing. A skilled maker of artist books, she offers
an annual course in Bookmaking. Her prints were exhibited in the fall of 2007
in a magical installation at the Benicia Public Library.
"The high quality of the teachers who are professional artists and have many years
experience teaching is the best thing about Arts Benicia's program. Also, the
students are often artists who bring much knowledge to share with other students,
and the classes are fun! Through these classes, I have deepened my understanding
of painting and the creative process, and I continue to build my skills."
Anne Petty, a recently
retired Clinical Social Worker, has been taking classes at Arts Benicia since
the beginning of the program in 2001. The skills she has acquired and sharpened
since then through numerous classes in painting, printmaking, and drawing, have
given her the confidence to show her work in numerous exhibits in the region.
"Working during the week, the Saturday workshop with Bill Harsh
has turned out to be a perfect fit for my schedule. The level of instruction,
the thoughtful critique of work and the enthusiasm shared by the group creates
a very positive environment for creative work. The opportunity to make prints
every week has helped my work to evolve over time and the generous feedback and
support has helped me to develop my artistic voice."
For the past 3 years, Elizabeth Wooley, Print Production Manager for Charles
Schwab, has been productively engaged in the printmaking classes at Arts Benicia.
She will be installing her first solo show of artwork at Olson Realty in the spring
of 2008 through Arts Benicia Presents.
TO ENROLL FOR CLASSES:
CLICK HERE for a Printable Form to Fax in to Arts Benicia:
www.artsbenicia.org/classes/classregform.htm
Or contact Arts Benicia by telephone: 707-747-0131, fax: 707-747-0241,
email: info@artsbenicia.org
View Photos from our Classes and Workshops...
Arts Benicia is located at 991 Tyler Street, Suite 114 in Benicia, California.
Art Classes and Workshops are located next door in the Arts Benicia Classroom Studio, unless otherwise noted
above.
Arts Benicia is a non-profit organization with a contemporary gallery exhibiting the work of
selected fine artists and artisans of California. Adjunct activities include art
workshops and classes, poetry readings, slide shows and talks by exhibiting artists,
as well as music and dance events. Arts Benicia is Benicia's official arts body
promoting culture and the arts in the area.
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