Hands-on Art
Suzanne Gibson: Plein Air and Alla Prima – Composition Light & Shadows
COST: $25 / Minimum 5; Maximum of 20 / All ability levels
This Hands-on Art mini workshop will be taught in oil, but is adaptable to all mediums. From thumbnail sketches, students will bring a composition to life! Outdoor painting of a still life is an ideal exercise to become familiar and comfortable with the elements of plein air, and not have the objects get up and walk away (such as a cow or deer).
Suzanne works from a primary color palette and will sketch in pencil or direct thin paint washes, including “blocking in” and “underpainting,” to details and final canvas.
Attendees will meet at the Hands On Tent and then walk to a nearby location to position themselves to paint plein air.
Suzanne will provide sketchbooks and aqua pencils.
Attendees are encouraged to bring easel or board, chair, umbrella (if needed) sunscreen, snacks, paints, paper, canvas and choice of tools.
Suzanne welcomes any questions by text (310-739-5978) or email (suzannegibsonartist@gmail.com).
Suzanne Gibson is a Plein Air painter and art instructor. She was born in Northern England and has lived in Southern California for over 40 years. She resides with her husband and 3 children in the South Bay. Suzanne has a BA in Interior Design and has been teaching art for over 20 years to students ranging from 3 years to 93 in local community art programs, Zoom-Studio, and in the classroom.
Suzanne continues to develop art projects, programs and experiences for all levels of experience. Suzanne explores throughout California and beyond to paint local beach and coastal views, gardens, and mountains. Suzanne adds to her list of favorite locations with every plein air painting she creates: vast blue skies with fabulous clouds, scenic farmland and rolls of hay, to antiques and old structures… and trees! Lots of trees!
You can see more of her work at https://suzannegibson.blogspot.com/
Raymond King Shurtz: Short Fiction using Landscape Paintings
COST: $25 / Minimum of 3 / Maximum of 12 / All ability levels
In this workshop, we will be using a plein air painting of your choice from the festival to write a short fiction story. The first hour we will talk about short fiction and choose the painting we will write from. The second hour we will write our story, integrating character, setting, conflict, plot and theme from our painting. The last hour we will read our stories and talk about the readings. This is a magical way to work!
Western Interiors
“…It was as if suddenly the sky and cliffs were bound to these men whose ancestors had stood in the same spot, three hundred years before, when there were no weathermen to explain the way and why the violent sky moved…”
Please bring a computer or notebook and a cell phone with a camera if possible.
Raymond King Shurtz has written more than 30 plays, three published with Samuel French and Anchorage Press/Dramatic Publishing. The Founding Artistic Director of Playwright’s Workshop Theatre in Phoenix, Raymond produced eighty new plays in his 12-year tenure with the company. In 1998, he began teaching, theatre, film and humanities at Metro Arts, a high school for the performing and visual arts in Phoenix, Arizona, where he taught and produced another ten years of new theatre. His play, Blue Baby, A Memoir won the Playwriting Fellowship in 2003 from the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Since 2008, he has worked as a free-lance director, actor, writer, and musician. In 2009, Raymond produced and performed his one man show, Bohemian Cowboy at The Elephant Theatre, which was the ‘pick of the week’ in The LA Weekly, and subsequently performed it approximately seventy-five times in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Southern Utah, and twenty-three shows in Austin, Texas. He also fronts a country/rock/western band, Out on Bail, and also performs solo acoustic shows for Hilton Hotels. His Anthology, ‘Seven Plays of the American West’ was released in 2019 by Five Sisters Press. All of his plays are available on Amazon, Dramatic Publishing, Samuel French, and Five Sisters Press.
Margie Lopez Read: Plein Air 4 U
No Cost / 2 Sessions / Maximum of 10 concurrent / Ages 5 and up
The focus of Plein Air 4 U in a special environment such as Grand Staircase Escalante is on the visitors and helping them use art to experience it more deeply. For this reason, one might call it a public art project, or Art at the Monument. By painting plein air in these very special environments, individuals can learn to see what is before them in a deeper, more meaningful way. The use of paint and brush to put those visions down and by taking home something they have created, they are very unlikely to forget their experiences. They will always remember Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
For this event, we will use acrylic paint and canvas boards. Substrate, paints and brushes will be supplied. Please wear old clothes or protective aprons.
Margie Lopez Read is an artist from Placerville, CA and Moab, UT, using art to generate funds for non-profit organizations through a project called ‘Donation Art’.
In 2014 Margie was selected for Artist Residency at Cape Perpetua in Oregon. It was the Cape’s first residency and she was able to generate enough sales that they were able to continue the program up until the pandemic in 2020. During that residency, Margie developed a public participation in art which she calls ‘Plein Air 4 U’. These are opportunities designed to be a non-threatening experience for everyone (young and old) to immerse themselves in their surroundings through paint. These events have proven to be very popular and successful. Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdg7QJhs000.
She recently started workshops which consist of experimentation with “Patterns In Nature” as an exploratory conceptual experience embracing designs that nature herself creates. You can learn more about Margie’s art here.
Jill Simkins: Mosaic Wall Art
COST: $20 / Minimum 10, Maximum of 25 / All ability levels
A mosaic expresses form in basic organic shapes and designs. Hanging on a wall they sparkle and reflect light from the colors of broken glass and tile. This class is for ages 12 and up, minors should be accompanied by an adult. Join me in creating a mosaic in the “Pique Assiette” tradition by using recycled broken plates, ceramic figurines, sparkly costume jewelry, and other found objects. This class will be a fun, innovative and creative experience. We will get our hands messy and we’ll smash and break things!
Jill will provide a 7”x9” board with a wall-mount bracket, plates, tiles, adhesive, grout, and nitrate gloves.
Please bring a pair of safety glasses, hammer, tile nippers (a few will be available to share) an old towel, and a sponge. Also bring miscellaneous plates, tile, broken vases, and ceramic pieces if available, and a sketch of your desired design.
Jill is an Organic Vegetable Farmer who creates art in many mediums; using plants and flowers, magical garden paths, oil or water-color paint, clay, and by using recycled, found or worn out items. Living her life working outside in the soil and discovering this beautiful world by hiking, backpacking, catering horse-pack trips in the High Uintah’s, river rafting, or camping in her vintage trailer, has given her a great respect and love for the outdoors which she attempts to capture on canvas. She especially enjoys painting cows, farm animals, and people. Her work has been sold in several galleries throughout the West.
She writes about her painting and adventures here.