BIRDS, BEES, AND BUTTERFLIES WITH GEOFFREY GORMAN
Gig Harbor, WA
July 26-29, 2022
Let’s take flight with Geoffrey Gorman for this sculpting workshop to learn how how to build a variety of curious winged creatures.
During this workshop, be prepared to let go of conventional building techniques and traditional methods of designing while learning how to build a flying creature. Using a wide variety of cast-off materials and unorthodox construction, we will design, assemble and bring to life a curious menagerie.
Field Guide
This four-day workshop encourages students to experiment with innovative and intuitive ways of creating a variety of flying creatures using wood, carving foam, and found and recycled materials.
Students are invited to think about subjects, shapes and forms that hold particular interest and bring these ideas to the workshop for realization.
Using unusual techniques developed by Geoffrey to overcome construction challenges, each student will complete a variety of creatures, something they want to create.
This class is perfect for beginners seeking an introduction to creating curious objects as well
as intermediate and advanced students wishing to reach the next level and break out of their comfort zone.
Students will learn
hand tool use
basic woodworking
unusual construction techniques
carving wood and foam
a new approach to the creative practice
how to working intuitively with mixed media
an expanding visual vocabulary
Itinerary
Day 1, July 26
9:30 We will meet for introductions and a class overview by Geoffrey.
Lunch 12:30-1:30
Class resume at 1:30 with class over at 4:30. Dinner will be made by Kathie this evening.
Day 2, July 27
Class starts at 9:30. Geoffrey will demonstrate some of his construction techniques.
Lunch 12:30-1:30. Class resumes and will end at 4:30. Dinner is on your own.
Day 3, July 28
We will meet at 9:30 to continue working on our projects. Breaking at 12:30 for lunch and ending the day at 4:30. Dinner will be made by Kathie this evening.
Day 4, July 29
We will meet at 9:30 for our last day together. Everyone will be working on their projects until lunch at noon.
1:00-3:00 Class continues working
3:00-4:00 We will clean up and then share our work with each other. Picture time!
COVID
You must be vaccinated in order to attend this workshop and you will need to take a rapid test at least two days prior to the workshop. Your card and negative test will need to be shown to Bellissima Art Escapes in order to join the workshop. Thank you for your cooperation and for considering your fellow artists.
THIS ESCAPE INCLUDES
Four days of instruction by Geoffrey Gorman
some found materials
Two dinners, four lunches
Facebook Private Page
New Art Tribe
The price for this workshop is $1,000 and does not include lodging or transportation.
The workshop is limited to 10
Image by John Vincent Palacio
The picturesque town of Gig Harbor is the location for this workshop. Listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or to live), it is located just across the Narrows Bridge from Tacoma, WA on the way to the Olympic Peninsula.
It is south of Seattle and the SEATAC airport. Transportation to Gig Harbor from the airport - Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops at two locations in Gig Harbor, the Inn at Gig Harbor or Purdy Park and Ride.
Accommodation: There are many Arbnbs and B&Bs in Gig Harbor. Here is a link for more options
SUPPLY LIST
We will provide
sander
scroll saw
drills
foam
some wood
bicycle tires
some metal goodies
Student Supply List
needle nose pliers
masking tape
phillips head screwdriver
small tin to cut up
canvas 1/2 to 1 yard
Clear gorilla glue
7-inch coping saw
Rasp (just one or two)
Utility knife and extra blades
Linesman pliers
Tin snips - Fiskar
24 gauge wire
U-tacks found in hardware store
Base for bird (optional)
Geoffrey Gorman was born in Paris, France, but eventually moved to andgrew up on an old horse farm in the countryside near Baltimore, Maryland. The dilapidated architecture and abandoned quarries of his
childhood influence and inspire the found material sculptures the artist creates today. Gorman has worked as a contemporary furniture designer, gallery dealer, curator, and art consultant before becoming a full-time professional artist. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including in China and South Korea. Gorman’s work is in public and private collections, including the Racine Art Museum; the University of Colorado Boulder, CO; and Delta Airlines. His work has been published in the New York Post, Southwest Art, American Craft, American Style, and Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Geoffrey Gorman currently lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
He has previously taught three workshops for Bellissima Art Escapes and at Penland School of Craft, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Peter’s Vally School of Craft, Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft, Ephemera Paducah
Kathie Vezzani, who is hosting the workshop, also is an artist who paints, rusts and waxes. She organizes trips for other artists and in a former life was a caterer. She has twenty-five years of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists.