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Mid-Semester Courses/Workshops Beginning Late-February/March
in All CE Winter/Spring 2026 Regular In-Person and Online Courses
Color Woodcut Printmaking (In-Person)
with Rebecca Gilbert
Thursdays, 1 - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Rebecca Gilbert
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
Printing from a drawing carved into wood is the oldest and most straightforward form of printmaking. Expand the expressive possibilities of the medium by infusing color into the process! Learn reduction and multiple block relief printmaking techniques to produce vibrant, layered color prints. Instruction will cover all steps from start to finished print: material selection and use, image planning, tool handling for a variety of mark-making tactics, reduction and multiple block processes, color mixing, printing by hand and on an etching press, registration techniques, cleaning, and editioning. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $30 lab fee for Print Shop use/maintenance (separate from the student-supplied materials list below).
Image: Rebecca Gilbert, Momento Mori/Swans, Reduction and Multiple Block Woodcut.
Register by: February 11
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Observational Perspective (Online)
with Frederic Kaplan
Thursdays, 7 - 8:30 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Ten-Week Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
Perspective is at the heart of good drawing and painting, allowing us to translate the observable world into believable two-dimensional images and create invented spaces. Learn the fundamentals of linear perspective in clear, easy to-understand language, and apply these principles to still life, interiors and cityscape views. This course will utilize the online learning platform, Canvas, and include videos, lectures and assignments with regular instructor feedback, plus weekly live sessions via Zoom. Basic drawing experience recommended.
Learning Objectives:
- Improve observational and interpretive skills, including the ability to gauge proportions, orientations, and relative positions of objects and their parts.
- Achieve understanding of the core principles of linear perspective.
- Develop skill in applying the principles of linear perspective to real-world situations.
Image: Frederic Kaplan
Register by: February 5
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Wood Studio (In-Person)
with John Greig
Tuesdays, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Instructor: John Greig
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
This class will explore wood as a primary art-making medium, looking at its many types, techniques and uses. Students will develop a well-rounded foundation of wood-working skills including cutting, milling, laminating, joinery and safe use of wood-working tools. Contemporary, traditional and ancient art works made of wood will be presented for historical and contextual understanding. Students will be encouraged to find their own unique voice within the material while building skills. Tuition includes $30 materials fee.
Image: John Greig
Register by: February 17
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Spontaneous Abstraction Workshop (Online)
with Kassem Amoudi
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Live Zoom Only)
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Weekend Workshop
Many artists can feel frustrated in front of a blank canvas, unsure of how to start and what to paint. Paint with confidence by learning techniques to tap into your intuitive process and find inspiration more easily! Experienced instruction and advice will push students to take chances and explore unexpected directions and accidental marks to achieve artistic discoveries. Students will use line, color and space, and editing possibilities to create busy/calm areas and focal points in their paintings as they work from personal imagery, expression, and imagination. Instruction will take the form of PowerPoint presentation/examples, formal direction from modern and contemporary artists, and one-on-on critiques in Zoom sessions that are geared toward open painting time in a classroom-like setting. Painting experience recommended.
Image: Kassem Amoudi
Register by: February 20
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Fast and Unfussed Oil Painting (In-Person)
with Roger Chavez
Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Roger Chavez
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
Cultivate fluid mark-making and bold approaches to subject matter through rapid and loose painting studies. Tight and precise painting, especially in the early stages of an artwork, can sometimes lead to work that appears stiff and over-labored, or to locked-in compositions that are difficult to change or correct. Working from the still life, cityscapes, and the life model, utilize short, small painting exercises to learn new ways of starting paintings, keeping compositions open to adjustment, and both initiating and retaining a sense of freshness in your forms and brushstrokes. Instruction will address color mixing, painting materials and methodologies, and the importance of cultivating viablemethods for growth in your painting practice. Discover the beauty and freedom of loosening up your painting! Note: Tuition includes a $25 models fee.
Image: Roger Chavez
Registration still open!
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
The American Watercolor Tradition (In-Person)
with Richard Estell
Mondays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Richard Estell
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Explore the painting techniques of the masters who pioneered the 19th and 20th century American watercolor movement, including Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, and Charles Demuth. Characterized by bright color and bold handling that includes accents of opaque watercolor and loose washes, work in this tradition captures subject matter with dazzling light-filled effects. Practice these classic methods and learn to incorporate them into your own artwork to achieve a greater freedom of expression as well as adaptability and control in the way that you paint. Demonstrations and art historical discussions will be combined with short and more extensive still life and self-portrait exercises. This course is appropriate for beginning and intermediate levels.
Image: Richard Estell, Watercress, 2011, watercolor, 30 x 22 in.
Register by: March 2
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Drawing Fundamentals: Cast and Figure (In-Person)
with Phyllis Laver
Tuesdays, 6 - 9 p.m.
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
For students seeking to expand their beginning drawing skills or those new to working from the figure, this class will focus on applying drawing’s basic elements to the human form. Starting from Antique and Classical sculpture from PAFA’s cast collection and progressing to work from the life model in short and long poses, work in charcoal and graphite to explore figure-based concepts of gesture, proportions, anatomy, and expression. Instruction will cover sight-drawing and measuring techniques, use of materials, gauging value, and ways of defining form and space. This course is excellent as a foundation for future study in any discipline or for more advanced figure-based work. Note: This part 2 course includes the use of nude models. Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
Note: Optional Part 1 Drawing Fundamentals: Line and Form offers preliminary instruction but is not required as a prerequisite to Cast and Figure.
Image: Phyllis Laver
Register by: March 3
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Letterpress Printmaking (In-Person)
with Rosae Reeder
Wednesdays, 6 - 9 p.m.
Instructor: Rosae Reeder
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Letterpress, also known as moveable type, is the process of printing with moveable components of either wood or lead type. Today, letterpress printing has become fashionable, used to print wedding invitations, business cards, and anything with that traditional vintage look. In this six-week course, students will learn the process of setting both wood and lead type and printing on a Vandercook letterpress. Instruction will also explore letterpress as a wonderful tool for printing images in edition through the creation of pressure prints. Printing of relief blocks, registration, layout, paper size, and color will also be discussed. This class is open to beginners and advanced artists. Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.
Image: Rosae Reeder
Register by: March 4
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.