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Pour, Peel, and Paint: Abstract Techniques in Acrylics (In-Person)
with Anthony Ciambella
Thursdays, 1 - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Anthony Ciambella
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
If you believe that painting can be more than applying brush to canvas, this course is for you. Explore the fluid, sculptural, assembled possibilities of acrylics! This hands-on, one-of-a-kind journey will take you places that you never thought you would go in acrylic painting: pour paint to make layers of color that can be peeled up, sculpted into three-dimensional forms, or collaged and layered into other paintings or mixed-media works. Create flexible tiles of acrylic color that can be snipped, shaped, and assembled into mosaics or applied to a variety of surfaces for artistic or decorative effects. Discover a myriad of alternative supports, brushes, and methods of paint application to incorporate abstract effects into your current body of work. Push the boundaries of what it means to paint with acrylics in this exciting exploration into experimental techniques.
Image: Anthony Ciambella.
Register by: July 5
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Fundamentals of Oil Painting (Online)
with Susan Sullivan
Thursdays, 6 – 9 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas content)
Instructor: Susan Sullivan
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Are you intimidated by the idea of oil painting? This course will help the beginning painter gain confidence in a variety of techniques including direct and indirect painting; color mixing; using mediums, solvents and additives; and painting with a brush and palette knife. Subject matter will include still life, portrait, interior spaces, landscape, and a master copy. Zoom class times will be comprised of group lectures and demonstrations, as well as studio painting time where the instructor will work one-on-one to guide students toward successful compositions. Drawing experience required.
Image: Susan Sullivan, Malibu, Oil on panel, 16 x 16 in.
Register by: July 5
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Watercolor: The Color-Focused Still Life (In-Person)
with Keith Leitner
Thursdays, 6 – 9 p.m.
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Explore both the versatility of watercolor and the exciting possibilities of color through still life painting. Learn to capture form with the freshness and fluidity of all prima techniques. Promote color in your work through instruction on color properties, mixing, and basic theory, as well as how to use hues in combination to create impactful compositions. Discussions and in-depth demonstrations will enforce all content so that students gain the facility and freedom to use color and painting techniques as means of personal expression.
Image: Keith Leitner.
Register by: July 5
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
All About Acrylics (In-Person)
with Frederic Kaplan
Fridays, 9 a.m - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
This complete acrylic painting course covers basics to advanced methods. Learn to use quick-drying acrylics expertly in thin, transparent layers as well as thicker, more opaque applications that produce textural and impasto effects. Materials like fluid mediums, gels, and pastes will be demonstrated, along with both brush and palette knife techniques. Several different color palettes will be introduced as students work from still life subjects. This course is ideal for students looking for a non-toxic, flexible painting medium, as well as anyone seeking to explore acrylics’ excellent potential for representational and abstract work. Drawing experience is recommended.
Image: Fred Kaplan.
Register by: July 5
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Land Art and Mindfulness Workshop (Online and Outdoor)
with Colleen O'Donnell
Saturday Zoom Intro, 1 – 3 p.m. and Sunday Outdoors/On-Location, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (See below for rain date.)
Instructor: Colleen O’Donnell
Weekend Workshop
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Nature can stimulate creativity and mindfulness, and likewise mindful creativity can amplify one’s appreciation of nature. Improve your ability to be conscious in and with nature by creating a temporary artwork in a natural setting using the materials found there. Making an artwork onsite not only amplifies attention to the beautiful details of one’s surroundings, but also the ephemeral, or impermanent, nature of land work releases the artist from preconceived ideas or pressures of making a lasting "product" so that they can be concerned only with living and creating in the moment. The class will meet first via Zoom to discuss ideas of land art, view examples, and plan for their activity. Students will then gather and create their works in Montgomery County's peaceful Fort Washington State Park, and afterward photograph it or make a short video to preserve the memory. This workshop is a great way to use art-makingas a way to relax and connect with nature.No prior experience necessary. Students are responsible for their own transportation.
Note: Please reserve rain dates of July 20 – 21. Regular refund policies apply to original dates only; no refunds available for students unable to attend rain dates. See CE policy guide below for withdrawal policies.
Image: Colleen O'Donnell, Oceanscape, driftwood, shells and plastic straw, 6 x 18 x 6 in.
Register by: July 26
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Figure Painting: The Extended Pose (In-Person)
with David Wilson
Saturdays, 10 a.m - 1 p.m.
Instructor: David Wilson
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Paint from a life model in a single pose for the entire course. Extended time with a single subject allows students to work with the instructor to tailor exercises that address their individual interests, including the development of one large image or several smaller studies. The first session will include time for gestural and thumbnail drawings in preparation for the model’s final placement. Instruction will cover a variety of topics including glazing, broken color, surface texture, composition and design, the relationship of the figure to the environment, the creation of atmosphere and color harmony, disrupted realism, and open- versus closed-form painting. All levels welcome. Students are welcome to draw-only, or use other appropriate media, if they wish. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
Image: David Wilson.
Register by: July 5
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Handquilting (In-Person)
with Sheryl Kessler
Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Instructor: Sheryl Kessler
Four-Week Short Course (12 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
The act of hand-stitching is a meditative and relaxing process that produces beautiful and unique results without any machine required. Learn the techniques of slow-stitching by creating your own small (wall-hanging)-sized quilt. All techniques will be taught by hand, but students are welcome to bring personal sewing machines if they wish. The following methods will be taught:
- Patchwork
- Applique (raw edge and turned edge)
- Traditional quilting and tied quilting
- Binding
Benefit by working alongside other participants, to enjoy conversation and company and to learn from, and admire, each other’s work!
Image: Sheryl Kessler, I KEEP ON FALLIN' IN AND OUT OF LOVE WITH YOU.
Register by: July 8
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Watercolor in the Park (Outdoor)
with Keith Leitner
Sundays, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Capture the colors of summer en plein air through vibrant watercolor! Become comfortable and confident with the practice of working outdoors at picturesque Lemon Hill, Laurel Hill, and other select locations around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park. Instruction will cover means of accurately and expressively depicting outdoor sites, watercolor painting techniques, color mixing, and the history and capabilities of water media. All levels welcome. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn to observe and depict landscape and cityscape en plein air with attendant materials and set up
- Learn color mixing and watercolor application techniques
- Study of pigment history and development
- Learn about watercolor history via short discussions of painters and their motifs
Image: Keith Leitner.
Register by: July 8
Materials List
Summer 2024 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies