Uncommon Common Art Presents Artist Workshops Sundays in September
All Workshops take place at the KC Irving Centre on the Acadia Campus, Wolfville. Sign up online at uncommoncommonart.com/artist-workshops.html
Playing with Clay! with Marla Benton
September 9, 1 to 5 pm
Come and explore the playful qualities of clay! You will have the chance to play with clay and discover the amazing ability that it has to hold details and texture. We will explore carving, stamping and printing into clay pieces that you have created. Each participant will be able to create their own hand-built masterpiece! With the lengthy process that clay goes through to become a finished piece, participants will complete their pieces, including glazing them during the workshop, and they will be able to pick up their pieces just over a week later after they have been dried and fired in a kiln. No experience necessary.
$100 includes all materials and a light snack. Sign up online.
Marla Benton lives and works on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. She has a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design and a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University. She creates a variety of work ranging from functional service wares to sculptural installations.
Block Printing with Kate Ward
September 16, 1 to 5 pm
Design and print your own fabrics! In this class we will create and carve our own designs using block-printing methods to build up an image, which we can combine with simple stencil and fabric painting techniques, creating depth and layers to our design. Set in the delightful historic grounds of Acadia University in the ‘Potting Shed’ next to the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens, this course encourages artistic exploration of ideas that can be translated into a repeat fabric print.
We cover basic colour theory to mix your own colours and experiment with transparent and opaque print pastes. The skills developed in this course can be applied in the studio or on the kitchen table.
Suitable for all skill levels.
$100 includes all materials and snacks. Sign up online.
Gouache Landscapes/Cityscapes with Miyoshi Kondo
September 23, 1 to 5 pm
Gouache! Pronounced gwash, Gouache is a water-based paint similar to watercolour, but can be applied and layered opaquely. Come explore this lovely and sometimes fickle medium. We will experiment with colour mixing and application techniques and then work on creating a finished landscape/cityscape. No experience necessary.
Miyoshi Kondo developed a penchant for gouache paint while acquiring a BFA from NSCAD University. Common themes explored in her work are how we function within, and relate to, our natural and constructed environments and our concepts of home.
$100 includes all materials and snacks. Sign up online.
Capturing the Sun – Cyanotypes with Bonnie Baker
September 30, 1 to 5 pm.
Cyanotype is part science, part wonder. Cyanotypes are fun and easy and are the perfect way to begin your exploration of alternative photographic processes. Instead of a camera or phone, we will use iron compounds and sunlight to make photograms. Photograms are like silhouettes, or shadows the objects leave on the paper. You will arrange household objects, flowers, leaves, lace, or anything else we find that can make an interesting shape into a pleasing design. When ready, we will go outside and expose your collages on prepared paper to the sun. After just enough exposure, you will wash your print in running water to bring out the white shadow pictures on a deep blue background, typical of cyanotype images. By end of our session, you will have a number of small cyanotype prints ready for framing to take with you as a memory of your day. No experience necessary.
$100 includes all materials and snacks. Sign up online.
Bonnie Baker has drawn and made prints as a professional artist for over 35 years. As an art instructor of as many years, she couples broad technical knowledge with passion and curiosity, gently guiding people towards exploring fresh creative ideas and unusual techniques.
