TAKE THE ORDINARY AND MAKE IT EXTRAORDINARY WITH LESLIE WEST
Bainbridge Island, WA - May 20-22, 2022
Anyone who has seen Leslie West’s work is always impressed by her aesthetics. Clean, calming colors with lines and graphics that appeal to not only her staging clients, but to her patrons.
To enter Leslie’s studio/live space is a feast for your eyes. You don’t want to be rude but you can’t help but look at every detail tucked around in the corners, on the shelves and on the walls. And then you think, how did you come up with that?!
Leslie is about to embark on another adventure, leaving Seattle to move back home to Atlanta (though she has lived in Europe, and went to school in Italy.) She has traveled the world with her husband and children and it has influenced her art, the things she collects and her talent for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.
This move will be to your benefit because she is unloading her studio and staging inventory and she will share a lot of it with you in this class. You will not have to bring a lot of supplies, but you will be going home with a treasure trove.
In this workshop you will learn how to view ordinary objects and change them into treasures using encaustic, plaster, paper, and assemblages.
ITINERARY
Each day we will meet in the studio at 9:30, break for lunch, then return to the studio and create until 4:30. On our last day, after lunch we will finish any last minute touches, then clean up and share our work.
Student Supply List
apron
scissors
matte medium
ruler
small tins like Altoids
any personal ephemera
Leslie with one of her many beautiful paintings
Venue
The Wacky Nut Farm studio is the venue for this workshop. Located on Bainbridge Island, it is a 30 minute ferry ride from Seattle. Alternatively, you can drive up the peninsula. Situated on 20 acres, it is a beautiful horse farm.
Please note: 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. (These are available through your local pharmacist or online). 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
Three days of instruction by Leslie West
Three lunches/snacks
Encaustic supplies - hot plate, butane gas, torch heads, medium
Fodder for creating - you won’t have to bring a thing!
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New Art Tribe
The price for this workshop is $550 and does not include lodging or transportation. Payment is due at registration
The workshop is limited to 10
ACCOMMODATIONS: There are limited spaces available in the guest house. There are two queen size rooms with on-suite bathrooms, and bunk beds that can be shared by two friends who share a separate bathroom. The cost of the luxurious bunk beds is $50/night/person. The queen beds, $100/night/person. Here is a video. These will be allotted on a first come basis and will be in addition to the workshop fee. Note: all accommodations have been taken
Other options are VRBO. There are several on the Island.
Even in her storage unit, her little vignettes are eye candy to an artist.
Leslie and Kathie in Switzerland before embarking on a Christmas Market river cruise together
Leslie West is a Seattle based artist who specializes in encaustic wax, cold wax and assemblage mediums. She also uses her creative talents to stage homes in the Seattle area.
She lives in Seattle during the week in the Bemis Work/Art lofts just a homerun away from the Seattle Mariner’s stadium. On the weekend she lives with her husband Dick West in Port Orchard. Leslie has lived in the US and abroad, she was the Corporate Director of The Ritz Carlton hotel company before marrying her husband Dick. They traveled the world with their three children when they owned Cruise West. Now they lead small boat cruises around the world through Explor Cruises. Leslie shows her work in galleries, the Seattle Art Fair, and of course in her staging.
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 nearly thirty years of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists.