Director's Notes ... Winter 2011

As usual, there are such a number of excellent classes to indulge in this Winter. The New England artists I know hunker down and get a lot of creative work done in the dark sleety weather. I usually cheer myself up by taking classes that use lots of color, such as Carol Ann Morley's two colored pencil classes, SA 6, Representational Drawing with Colored Pencil, and SA 13, Botanical Drawing in Color. Cate Aichele's “Old Master Drawing” (SA 3) encompasses drawing on beautifully tinted grounds and gessoed papers. Todd Bonita offers a one day Color Workshop for Painters (SA 19). I was just viewing his work at The Boston International Art Fair and was impressed with the vibrant quality of his color. Jennifer Field teaches how to sculpt directly in color with 3 one day Wool Felting Workshops (SA 27). I created a bird in her last class here and have it perched among my plants. Trisha Coates' Tile Making (SA 22) is another way to create colorful tiles to brighten up your domicile. Dustan Knight will have you splashing about in her Wild Wonderful Watercolor (SA 11) or her Mindful, Mad Abstraction (SA 12). Shiao Ping Wang's Color and Collage in Abstraction (SA 7) is another bold way to incorporate color into your art making. I am, once again, going to paint color charts in Sean Beaver's Representational Oil Painting class (SA 14) and continue my “wanna be a painter” journey under his very kind and informative instruction.

I'm very pleased to be able to offer a Printmaking Workshop (SA 10) with Shane Chick. He's a reduction relief printer whose techniques allow an artist a way of creating multiples. Gail Sauter is extending her popular Oil Painting Boot Camp (SA 15) so those who wish can begin their journey and previous students can continue under her stimulating tutelage. For those who love the painterly quality of pastels, Norma Machado's Pastels- Seeking Diversity (SA 2) explores still life and the intricacies of creating the illusion of water in the mill pond or open sea. Russel Whitten is offering two new short evening classes, Portrait in Drawing & Watercolor (SA 16) and Still Life in Drawing & Watercolor (SA 17). He's a young, energetic artist with an engaging way of conveying enthusiasm for his subject. And maybe someday I will take Teri Weidner's Illustrating Children's Books (SA 18). In a Portsmouth Herald interview by Jeanne McCartin, Weidner says about teaching at Sanctuary Arts, “I love that, love teaching book illustration. I like taking people through the process, thumbnails to mock-ups, and we do a final piece for the book.” Anthropomorphic animals are her personal favorites to draw. Dewittt Hardy's watercolor classes (SA 4 & SA 5) remain favorites with students who keep on studying with him- a true testament to great teaching instruction. One of his long time students, Ken Fellows, has a show up now at the York Library. Dewitt is also excellent for Watercolor beginners, reinforcing clean wash fundamentals in every class. So you can see, there is no reason to allow Winter's vicissitudes to overwhelm you. It's a fine time to explore the “artist within”.