COLOR, DESIGN AND COMPOSITION IN COLD WAX AND OIL WITH PAMELA CAUGHEY

February 8-16, 2025

San Miguel de Allende

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL AND A WAITLIST HAS BEEN STARTED

Pamela Caughey is returning to teach another cold wax and oil workshop in San Miguel de Allende. This workshop will focus on color, design and composition as you develop your personal artistic voice.

There will be comprehensive presentations, lots of demos and plenty of 1:1 time with each student to make this a custom fit experience for each artist.

Those with more experience are welcome to bring works in progress as well as work on the color and design projects. We will explore the world of color and abstract composition as we absorb the beautiful environment in San Miguel de Allende to inspire our shapes, textures and colors.

The emphasis in this workshop will be using cwm/oils, however you may work in acrylic if you like. (Pam’s demos will be in cwm/oil). Design and Color principles apply to ALL 2D mediums, so if you are working in another medium, please don't worry, Pam’s demos and presentations can be applied to any 2D medium and she will be there to help you if you have any questions! 

Be prepared to learn a lot, not only about color, but composition, balance and saturation.

This workshop is for beginner through advanced artists who would like to learn how to create “their best art” through powerful design and personal color. These techniques can be used by artists wanting to learn how to paint using cold wax, encaustics, acrylics and oil media.

Through demonstrations, presentations, and working one on one, each student will be able to approach a painting at any stage of development and understand the “when” and “how” to pull their paintings together to create art they “love.

A supply list will be provided upon registration.

This Escape Includes

• 8 nights at Casa de la Noche

• Welcome reception and fiesta

• All breakfasts, five lunches and 3 dinners (one lunch and one dinner on your own)

• Visit to markets

• Two cooking classes

• Free time to explore

• A farewell dinner with our amigo, Paco Cardenas, pastry chef and co-owner of Petit Fours'

Price: $3900, limited to 12 people based on double occupancy, limited single rooms are available for an additional $700.

A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is due upon registration. The balance is due Dec. 1, 2024.

Price does not include airfare to/from Mexico, alcohol, and travel insurance (mandatory).

Accommodations:

Casa de la Noche

Airport:(BJX) Del Bajio Airport, Leon/Guanajuato which is 1 hour and 15 minutes from SMA. We will coordinate transportation.

Itinerary

Day 1, Feb. 8. Everyone will meet at the Leon airport for transportation to San Miguel. We will meet for introductions, drinks and little bites before we send you off to bed.

Day 2, Feb. 9. Breakfast is at the Casa every morning. We will meet in the studio at 9:30 each morning. Lunch will be provided and dinner tonight at La Posadita.

Day 3, Feb. 10. Breakfast, lunch at CDLN. This afternoon we will visit our friend, Mojiganga Master, Hermes Arroyo in his studio for a special class. Dinner at La Sirena.

Day 4, Feb 11. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Dinner is on your own.

Day 5, Feb 12. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 6, Feb. 13. Breakfast, lunch at CDLN. Dinner will be at Los Milagros.

Day 7, Feb. 14. Happy Valentine’s Day. Breakfast at CDLN, lunch at La Biblioteca. Tonight will be a cooking class with Chef Ana Elena Martinez.

Day 8, Feb. 15. Breakfast, finish up projects and have a Show “n Tell. You have free time to finish shopping or exploring. Our farewell dinner will be with our friend, Chef Paco Cardenas.

Day 9, Feb. 16. Everyone leaves.

Pamela Caughey grew up in Wisconsin, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from UW-Madison in 1983. After moving with her family to Hamilton, MT in 1986, she began her serious study of art, and in 2010 received her MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Montana School of Art. She works in many media, with special interest in cold wax/oil, encaustic, mixed media and acrylic.

Her work is in the permanent collection of several museums and public buildings nationally and internationally. After teaching foundations courses at the University of Montana, Bitterroot College, Montana, she is now a full time studio artist and teaches workshops from her studio, online, and around the country. 

TRUSTING YOUR INTUITION WITH DEBRA FRITTS

Join artist Debra Fritts in Puebla City in trusting your intuition to create a sculptural piece that holds the energy of self and inspiration from the beauty of Puebla.

Puebla is the capitol of the State of Puebla, Mexico. It’s a tile laden city with an historic story. It is believed that the nuns of Santa Rosa Convent created mole poblano for the King of Spain. He was so thankful for this very special mole, that he sent tiles from Spain as a gift of appreciation and those tiles still line the ex-convent’s kitchen walls. For over 200 hundred years, Talavera Uriarte hand painted tiles and pottery have been created with only five colors, blue, black, yellow, green and a reddish pink. Today, Talavera de la Reyna is the more modern painted pieces that are sold world wide.

Puebla is also known for Calle de Los Dulces, or the Sweets Street lined with shops selling a wide variety of sugary treats. Lucky for us, Ana Elena Martinez, a pastry chef and owner of Margú, a bakery with four locations in Puebla, will be our guide. This is her home so she knows where to take us.

The Workshop

Using a chunk of clay we will work solid and manipulate the clay until a personal visual appears.

This can be human, animal, plant…there is no limitation on subject.

Once the clay is strong, we will carve out the interior of the form. Surface treatment will be added by using slips, oxides and dry clay.

Let this beautiful city in Mexico give you new information for your art.

Schedule

Day 1, February 16. Everyone arrives in Puebla at Hotel Boutique Casareyna. We will meet at 7:00 for botanas and a margarita.

Day 2, February 17. Breakfast at the hotel and then we depart for the studio. We will be in the studio all day, breaking for a walking tour with lunch. Dinner this evening will be at Tacos Arabes.

Day 3. February 18. Breakfast at the hotel then in the studio all day breaking for lunch. Dinner will be provided.

Day 4. February 19. Breakfast at the hotel and then it’s a half day at the studio. We will have cemitas for lunch and then head to Uriarte for the Talavera Tour. Dinner will be provided.

Day 5. February 20. Today is a travel day. Breakfast at the hotel then off to the nearby colonial city of Cholula. We will visit the Cholula market with our friend Monica Mastretta who will also teach a cooking class in her beautiful home. If we have time and the energy, we will also visit the Zona Arqueológica de Cholula, an ancient Mesoamerican site known for its huge pyramid & tunnels.

Day 6. February 21. Today will start with breakfast at the hotel and then, depending on whether our pieces have cooled from the firing, we will go to the studio or walk to the Amparo Museum.

We will add cold finishes to our pieces either this afternoon or the next morning. Free time and dinner will be at Ana Elena’s home - we are in for a special treat.

Day 8, February 22. Breakfast at the hotel then off to the studio to finish painting. We will have our show “n tell before going to lunch. Free time this afternoon before our final dinner at Salon Mezcali.

Day 9, February 23. Art Escape is over and you can leave anytime today.

This Art Escape has been cancelled

This Art Escape Includes:

• Four days of class with Debra

• Seven nights accommodation at Hotel Boutique Casareyna

• Walking Tour

• Uriarte (Talavera) Tour

• Visit to Cholula Market and Pyramids

• Private cooking class

• A special dinner at Chef Ana Elena’s home

• Private Facebook Group

• A new art tribe

Hotel Boutique Casareyna

Privada 2 Ote. 1007, Centro, 72000 Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Pue., Mexico

Price for this workshop is $4,100 and includes lodging (based on double occupancy, there are a limited number of single rooms available for $900) and all but one meal. A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is due now with the remaining due Dec. 3, 2024. The workshop is limited to 12.

Please do not make your plane reservations until notified.

AIRPORT: Puebla International Airport otherwise known as Hermanos Serdán International Airport. Km 91.5 Carr Fed Mexico/Pueblo Municipio, de Huejotzingo,

Airport Code: PBC. United has a direct flight to Puebla. Taxis are available 24/7. Uber is around $600 pesos.

We will Provide

• clay

• slips

• oxides

• boards to work on

• spray bottles

• Dowels - 7/16 inch diameter, 12” long

Artists Supply List

• Sketchbook with resources and ideas

• Apron

• Photos of animals, flowers, etc.

• Tools for working in clay - a wire cutter, needle tool and loop tools for carving (see below)

• Brushes (see below) - cheap utility brush, soft watercolor brushes and one detail brush

Ana Elena’s bakery - Margu. Check out the artwork that she had made for the shop!

Debra Fritts is a studio artist working in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She received her undergraduate degree in Art Education from the University of Tennessee and continued graduate studies in ceramic sculpture, painting, and printmaking.  Debra currently conducts figurative sculpture workshops at her studio, and master classes nationally and internationally.

Debra enjoys national recognition for her work in ceramic sculpture through invitational exhibitions and awards, museum exhibitions and collections, gallery representation, private collections and publications.  Her one of a kind sculptures are hand-built and multiple fired with a painterly glazed surface. The work is a continuous story of awareness and the celebration of daily living.

A PATCHWORK OF MEMORIES WITH ALEX CASTRO FERREIRA

Our workshop in Oaxaca with Alex Castro Ferreira was so much fun that we have asked her to teach again. But this time, in her own neighborhoods of Lisbon and Sintra, Portugal.

Join us in this UNESCO World Heritage Site in this charming Portuguese town located in the hills of Serra de Sintra, once a summer retreat for Portuguese nobility for a mixed media workshop.

Alex loves to create worn, raw, rusty journals that you can write, paint, doodle, stitch, and play with. What inspires us about her work is the use of rust, resin and metal. All the things we love!

Here are some of the journals created in Oaxaca.

Itinerary

Day 1, May 23. Everyone arrives in Lisbon for a transfer to Sintra, about a 45 minute drive. Plan to arrive by 4 p.m. We will welcome you with a drink, an amuse bouche and then dinner.

Day 2, May 24. All breakfasts will be offered in the hotel. It’s an exciting morning - off to the Feira da Ladra flea market where I’m sure we will find a treasure or two! This will be followed by a 1 hour sightseeing tour. This evening we will eat at Tasca da Ana.

Day 3, May 25. Breakfast and lunch at the hotel, class with Alex. Dinner is on your own to explore Sintra, a quick 15 minute walk into town, or the hotel has sandwiches or salads. You can also order through Uber Eats. The workshop room will be open until 11 p.m. each evening.

Days 4-5, May 26 & 27. Breakfast and lunch at the hotel. Class with Alex. Dinner on your own.

Day 6, May 28. Breakfast at the hotel. We will finish our projects and share our work. Lunch today will be at the Restaurante Nortada on the beach. You will have free time then we will meet at Taberna dos Trovadores for a some traditional Portuguese food.

Day 7, May 29. Breakfast at the hotel, then we will walk to Quinta da Regaleira. Designed and built in the late 1800s, it is an architectural feat. Its design focused on the Manueline, Renaissance, Medieval and Classical styles.

You have free time this afternoon to shop and dinner will be on your own.

Day 8, May 30. Breakfast, free time, then lunch at the hotel. We will have a tile workshop at the Fundacao Espirito Santo this afternoon followed by our farewell dinner at Mesa Dos Frades.

Day 9, May 31. We will have our last breakfast together before leaving for the airport. You should make your return flights to leave in the afternoon.

This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.

Only one spot left!

This Escape Includes

• 8 nights accommodation at Hotel Sintra Jardim - a historical hotel

• Transfers from airport to hotel and return

• Welcome reception

• Three and a half days lessons with Alex

• Visit to the Feira da Ladra flea market

• Guided tour in quinta de Regaleira

• Portuguese tile workshop at Funacao Espirito Santo

• A very special farewell dinner at Mesa de Frades

• Private Facebook group

• Some supplies

• Four dinners, 7 lunches, 8 breakfasts

• Free time to explore

• New art tribe

The price for this workshop is $3950 and is limited to 15

A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registration. Final payment is due December 1, 2024.

Price does not include airfare to/from Lisbon, alcohol, travel insurance (must have) or personal shopping.

Accommodations:

You will feel like royalty in your own en-suite private room at the historic Hotel Sintra Jardim, once the summer residence of Viscount Tojal. The hotel sits below the hills of the Serra de Sintra.

Airport: Humberto Delgado Airport (IATA: LIS, ICAO: LPPT), is an international airport located seven kilometres (four nautical miles) northeast of the city centre of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

We will arrange transportation from the airport to Sintra (and reverse). Please arrive by 4:00 p.m. on May 23. We will meet at the Starbucks and travel from there. Should you plan to arrive earlier to stay at the hotel, you will be responsible for your own transfer fees. Marina, Alex’s sister-in-law and a travel agent, can help you arrange your transfer and extra night.

Supply lists

We will provide:

• cyanotype kit

• turmeric and sea salt

• flowers/plants and transparent film

• iron transfer

Artists Supply list:

• Original fotos, passports, ID documents, handwritten letters, driver’s license, drawings from you children, old recipes from your mother

• White/colored fabric such as linen, cotton, old T-shirt

• Gel medium

• a foam brush

• scissor and a bone folder

• needle and DMC threads

• 1 or 2 alcohol inks (optional)

• rusty papers and fabrics if you already have them

• an awl

• black ink

• a brush for the ink

• 8.5” x 11” pad of watercolor paper

• a stapler with extra staples

• a rag

• 2 pieces of cardboard (8 1/2” x 11”)

• inkjet small fotos and ephemera like stamps, dictionary pages, washi tapes, etc.

• UHU glue

• Two vintage hardbound book covers ( 7” x 5”)

• Objects that will fit in the book cover like old brushes, feathers, rulers, vintage stencils

• double side tape

• strong glue

• Rusty wire

• pliers

Portugal mixed media artist Alex Castro Ferreira embraces her French and Portuguese cultures in her altered books and journals. She uses rust, resin, recycled objects and talisman jewelry to tell her story, where she is from, and where she is going. A world traveler, Alex collects ephemera everywhere she goes.

IRISH ANTHOLOGY - CREATING A COLLECTION OF ARTISTS BOOKS WITH GILLIAN LEE SMITH

Belfast, Ireland - May 31-June 8, 2025

UK Artist Gillian Lee Smith has always loved books and, in recent years, has found making artists books to be a lovely companion to her main practice of painting. Join Gillian in Belfast, Ireland for an Irish Anthology.

As a child, Gillian was gifted a box housing the tiniest books you can imagine. A set of fairy stories, all housed perfectly in a small, purpose-made container. These memories led her to imagine a set of artist-made books housed within a house – books that allowed the capturing of memories from a particular place in a particular time.

The humble book form is so familiar to us. Yet books can be art, sculpture, a container for recording what we see and experience and all we can imagine. A wonderful way to remember a journey to a land such as Ireland.

We will sketch the places we visit—the landscape, castles, and buildings of Belfast—to capture inspiration for both the container and the various book forms.

Itinerary

Day One – Saturday, May 31. Everyone arrives at the hotel and we will meet for dinner this evening at the Wolff Grill.

Day Two - Sunday, June 1. Have breakfast and then meet in the studio at 9:30. Gillian will share her handmade artist books and sketchbooks in the morning and talk about her landscape sketching practice before we visit Belfast Castle to sketch in the afternoon. Throughout the workshop, you also can sketch from the buildings in Belfast City.

The estate contains landscape gardens, mature mixed woodland and a forest trail. It is home to many different wildlife species, including long-eared owls, sparrow hawks and the town hall clock. We will have lunch at the castle in the Tavern Coffee Shop before returning to the studio. Dinner will be at the Mourne Seafood Bar.

Day Three - Monday, June 2. Meet in the studio at 9:30. We will discuss ideas for making the book box, the container that will house our collection of hand-made books.

Gillian will have a couple of options for a pattern you can use, but you are free to adapt them or create something unique from scratch. You will make the book box and internal and external papers so that you are ready to create your books. Lunch will be at the hotel. Dinner will be at Home.

Day Four - Tuesday, June 3. Meet in the studio at 9:30. Today is a day for playing with watercolors, color, granulation, and layering. We will create a series of pieces to inspire our books, which could also be folded and divided into our book pages. Lunch will be at the hotel and dinner will be provided at White’s Tavern or Beer Hall, the oldest bar in Belfast.

Day Five – Wednesday, June 4. Today, Gillian will share some ideas for book forms using the pages you created and time to make more using imagery, text and anything else you can think of. Lunch and dinner will be at the hotel.

Day Six – Thursday, June 5. Have breakfast and then it is a day out to explore the Ulster Museum that explores the past, the present and the future through collections of art, natural science and history. It champions diverse voices and new perspectives to promote positive change in society.

We will have lunch nearby and you will have the afternoon to explore the Botanic Gardens.

We will meet for dinner at Deane’s at Queen.

Day Seven – Friday, June 6. Today, Gillian will show options for making covers for our books as well as other finishing details such as enclosures and detail work. After our Show N Tell we will visit the St. George’s Market where we will have lunch and then you can continue to explore the market. Dinner is on your own.

Day Eight - Saturday, June 7. Today we will visit the Titanic Experience in Belfast which is next door to our hotel. Lunch is on your own and you will have free time this afternoon until our final dinner together this evening at Edo.

Day Nine - Sunday June 8. You may leave anytime on this day or continue on to Gillian’s second workshop in Inverness.

This Art Escape Includes

• Five days instruction from Gillian

• Eight nights accommodation at the Titanic Hotel based on double occupancy

• All meals except for one lunch and one dinner

• Visit to Belfast Castle, The Ulster and Titanic Museums

• Some supplies

• New Art Tribe

The cost for this Escape is $4,100, based on double occupancy. A single room supplement charge is $800. A $1,000 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining balance is due February 8, 2025.

Travel insurance is required.

Where we will be staying: Located at the heart of Belfast's Titanic Quarter, the legendary Harland & Wolff Headquarters and Drawing Offices is now the world's most authentic Titanic Hotel, offering an unforgettable experience for anyone visiting Northern Ireland.

Explore the Building

Artworks & Artefacts

Half-hotel, half-museum, the building is home to an original collection of over 500 artworks, artefacts and photographs transporting the viewer back to the 'Golden Age of Ocean Travel.’

Titanic Hotel

Queen’s Road, Titanic Quarter

Belfast, BT3 9DT

Northern Ireland

+44 28 9508 2000

Materials List

We will provide:

• Waxed bookbinding thread

• Curved needles and sewing needles

• Dip pens

• Deli paper

Students Please Bring

• Camera or phone camera

• A pad of watercolour paper

• Three or four sheets of 2mm thick greyboard/book board

• A few sheets of copy paper

• A couple of sheets of drawing paper

• A few sheets of handmade paper

• A sketchbook

• Drawing pencils, sharpener, eraser

• Paper scissors, sewing scissors

• A small portable palette of watercolors with a mixing palette

• A water container

• A selection of watercolour brushes

• A small spray bottle

• A cutting mat (roughly 8 x 10 inches or 10 x 12 inches)

• Book glue or PVA

• A small ½ inch Glue brush

• Letter-sized plastic sheet or file (to glue paper on for easy clean up)

• An Exacto knife and a scalpel knife with spare blades

• A metal edge ruler

• Ribbon for books, buttons for closures,

• Acrylic ink for outside of the container - Gillian likes Liquitex transparent inks

Optional Extras

● Embossing tool

● Hand-dyed or vintage fabric scraps

● Embroidery threads

● White pen

● Color pencils – Gillian likes Derwent Drawing Pencils (natural colors which go well over watercolors)

This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.

Gillian Lee Smith is a Scottish artist living in the beautiful, historic North-East coast of England that daily influences her work. As a teacher, Gillian is inspired to bring her love of people and place to each workshop using a wealth of techniques to make new discoveries along with her students. She has several very successful online courses and a mentoring program.

EVOCATIVE LANDSCAPES - OIL AND COLD WAX PAINTING IN SCOTLAND WITH GILLIAN LEE SMITH

Inverness, Scotland

June 8-15, 2025

Join UK artist Gillian Lee Smith in Inverness, Scotland for an Evocative Landscapes workshop using oil and cold wax.

The atmosphere of place is always at the heart of Gillian’s landscape paintings – she seeks to go beyond pure representation or replication but to evoke somehow a sense of place, memory, and emotion. Through multiple layers of color, texture and value where almost as much paint is removed as is laid down, it’s a process that can render the most beautiful and unexpected results.

Immersing ourselves in the landscape on our trips out, we will sketch the places we visit—the landscape, castles, and surrounding areas of Inverness – an evocative, soul-enriching place that will inspire the colors and atmosphere of our paintings.

Itinerary

Day One, Sunday June 8 – Everyone arrives and we will meet for our first group dinner at Hou Hou Mei.

Day Two, Monday June 9 - Have breakfast before meeting in the Millburn Room where Gillian will show examples of her oil and cold wax medium landscapes and castle paintings sharing how plein air and sketchbook watercolor sketches have been inspiring her recent explorations in oil and cold wax painting.

We will play with our small palette of watercolors before venturing out on our first sketching trip on Monday afternoon. We will board the Temptation Tour that takes us by bus to the legendary Loch Ness. Here we will cruise the Loch stopping at the Urquhart Castle where you will sketch for an hour before returning to Inverness. Lunch and Dinner (Jimmy Badgers) will be provided.

Day Three, Tuesday June 10 - Have breakfast before meeting in the Millburn Room at 9:30 a.m. Here we will play with mark-making, layering, and scraping back to build layers in our paintings. We will stop for lunch before we explore color mixing and continue building layers on several paintings simultaneously. Dinner will be at 27 Castle Street.

Day Four, Wednesday June 11 – Today is another day trip to absorb the beautiful landscape, collect sketches and inspiration, make color notes and additional drawing and writing to bring back to the studio to help us further develop our paintings. Have breakfast at the hotel then we will meet for an excursion to Dunrobin Castle, a 1-hour bus ride north of Inverness. Lunch will be at the castle. Dinner will be at The Mustard Seed.

Day Five, Thursday June 12 —Have breakfast before we meet in the Millburn Room at 9:30 a.m. We will continue to add layers to our paintings, building up textures, scraping back, and experimenting with solvent reductions. We will focus on beginning to further develop our paintings through shape, value, color, texture, and atmosphere. Lunch. Dinner will be at the River House.

Day Six, Friday June 13 —Have your breakfast before meeting in the Millburn Room for our final day of painting. We will refine our collection of small paintings to create compositions that speak of our experience of being in this wonderful landscape. Lunch will be provided. Dinner is on your own this evening.

Day Seven —- Saturday June 14 – A final day to explore the local area together. What better way to understand the Scottish Highlands then to visit the Culloden battlefield and museum. Located only 5 miles from Inverness, we will spend the morning here with lunch in the cafe. After returning to Inverness, you will have the afternoon free before we meet for our final dinner together this evening at Cafe 1.

Day 8 - Sunday June 15 — Everyone leaves or stays on to enjoy further exploring Scotland.

This Art Escape Includes

• Five days instruction from Gillian

• Seven nights accommodation at the Leonardo Hotel based on double occupancy

• All meals except for one dinner

• Visit to Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Dunrobin Castle and Gardens, Culloden Battlefield and Museum

• Some supplies

• New Art Tribe

The cost for this Escape is $4200, based on double occupancy. A single room supplement charge is $600. A $1,000 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining payment is due February 8, 2025.

Travel insurance is required.

Where we will be staying:

Leonardo Hotel Inverness

Millburn Road, IV2 3TR Inverness, +44 87 04100800

They have a spa and an indoor heated pool!

We will Provide

• Paper Towels

• Tissue Paper

• Glassine Paper

• Sheets of Palette Paper

Supply List

• Camera or phone camera

• A sketchbook

• Drawing pencils, sharpener, eraser

• A small portable palette of 4 – 6 watercolors with a mixing palette (Gillian will list some recommendations for colors)

• A portable water container

• Two or three watercolor brushes

• A small spray bottle

• Easy peel masking tape (blue or green tape)

• A pad of Arches Oil (Huile paper) – 16 x 20 inches

• A tin of Gamblin cold wax medium

• A small bottle of Gamblin solvent

• A small selection of oil paints (Gillian will share color recommendations)

• A small glass jar

• A pipette dropper

• A couple of palette knives

• A soft brayer

• One or two small silicone squeegees (like bowl scrapers) (4 to 6 inches in size)

• A one-inch bristle brush

• A couple of other brushes (Gillian will recommend sizes)

• Embossing tool

• Optional Extras

  ● One or two oil bars

  ● Small gessoed boards – 8 x 10 inches max

This itinerary may change due to weather, new opportunities or the whim of the group.

Gillian Lee Smith is a Scottish artist living in the beautiful, historic North-East coast of England that daily influences her work. As a teacher, Gillian is inspired to bring her love of people and place to each workshop using a wealth of techniques to make new discoveries along with her students. She has several very successful online courses and a mentoring program.

OUT OF CONTEXT - OBJECTS REDEFINED WITH GARY AND MARY ANN CARLSON

July 10-13, 2025

Port Orchard, WA

Four days of creating mixed media sculptures with Gary and Mary Ann Carlson was such a special time that we have asked them to return. If you are a mixed media artist, this needs to be on your bucket list. Gary and Mary Ann share their experiences and solutions to every type of attachment challenge and Mary Ann is a master of balancing your piece to hang. And then there is the magic sauce……you will need to join us to discover what this is. It’s life changing for a mixed media artist.

Using found objects, students will learn how to create and construct a non-objective or highly abstracted relief sculpture to hang on the wall.

You will learn:

• Compositional methods and critique skills to unify your composition

• The appropriate products and methods of attaching a wide variety of materials

• Material techniques using Apoxie Sculpt, Sculpt Noveau Metal Coatings paint and patinas

• Appropriate tools for specific materials, rivets, saw, cutof saws, grinders, etc.

• Appropriate display hardware for asymmetric physical weight balance of artwork

From the chaos of an overabundance of materials, our artists swapped supplies, helped each other and created amazing pieces.

Itinerary

We will meet each day at 9:30 am, stopping for lunch provided by our host, Kathie Vezzani, and ending the day around 4:30 pm. Dinner will be provided one evening.

On the last day, we will work until we break for lunch, then we will finish any last minute details before cleaning up and sharing our work in a Show ‘N tell.

We Will Provide

• 12” edge glued wood round

• 16”x 16” x 1/4” plywood

• Primer paint, water-based

• Metal Coatings brass and iron paint

• Metal coatings patinas, tiffany green and tan

• Clear acrylic Matt spray

• Jig saw (metal and wood blades), small pull saw, coping saw

• Drill and bits

• Hammers

• Safety goggles

• Metal shears

• Metal files

• Wood rasps

• Brad nailer

• Escutcheon pins

• Nail set

• Center punch

• Wood scraps

• Wire and wire cutters

• Metal cutoff saw

• Clamps

• Nails and screws

• Bits of wood and tin that you may want to use

• Acrylic paint

• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

• Sponge brushes

• Paint brushes

• Wood glue

• Plastic gloves

• Sandpaper, emery paper, steel wool various textures

• Rivet gun and aluminum rivets

This workshop is full. Join the waitlist.

This Art Escape includes

• Four days instruction by Gary and Mary Ann Carlson

• Four lunches, one dinner

• Lots of materials

The cost of this workshop is $900. A non-refundable $500 deposit is due upon registering. The remaining $400 is due April 11, 2025.

Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.

The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.

There are many Arbnbs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested.

Student Supply List

• Apron

• Pencils, sharpies

• Scissors,

• E-6000 glue,

• JB weld kwik glue

• Bring ideas and found object materials that have similar elements such as color, shape, line for your wall sculpture.

These are just ideas. You do not need to collect all of this:

• vintage wood typesetter’s letters or typewriter keys or metal letter stencils

• wood blocks, letters

• vintage clock insides, watch parts

• various sized wood balls, pool balls, beads, ¼”- 1½”

• croquet balls, mallets or sticks

• small decorative brass horns

• vintage embroidery hoops or circles, old tin lids

• vintage wood hangers or any wood or metal arc

• interesting sticks or wood shapes - objects

• small hollow, plastic bird forms

• small rusted metal sheet material that has some color left,

• small metal lamp parts, metal leaves, brass or chrome metal bits

• old rulers, wood metal or cloth

• old paintbrushes,

• small vintage tools

• small antlers or horns

• copper or aluminum tape

Minnesota artist Gary Carlson is a sculptor and retired art teacher. He has worked as an art educator, a graphic artist, a portrait photographer, and painter. Since retiring from teaching, his worked has been primarily creating found object assemblage sculptures.

Throughout his career, he has exhibited in galleries, art centers, art competitions and art fairs in and around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, as well as the Midwest. Gary’s work is in the collection of the East Central Regional Arts Council and he has received numerous awards.

MaryAnn Carlson also is a former art educator. She has worked as a jeweler, a picture framer, a gallery director, an art administrator, a small business owner, a graphic artist, a digital photo editor, a painter and a sculptor. She has exhibited in galleries, art centers, art competitions in and around the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. Her work is in the collection of The East Central Regional Arts Council and she has received numerous awards for her unique sculptures. She is a master at hanging artwork!

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 over three decades of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists. She is ably assisted by her husband, affectionately known as Builder Bob whose contribution to the assemblage workshops is invaluable.

METAL QUILTS - AMISH MODERN WITH ARUNAS OSLAPAS

July 18-20, 2025, Port Orchard, WA

To all our fellow metal lovers, this workshop is for you! Join Bellingham artist Arunas Oslapas of Red Rivet Studios for a weekend of creating metal quilts. Formerly a Professor of Industrial Design at Western Washington University, Oslapas has experience creating and selling his work through his studio and art shows throughout the U.S.

In this three-day workshop, you will learn how to cut, paint, distress, and rivet metal to a cradled board. The pieced metal panels can be embellished with found objects, ephemera, and transferred images or text onto metal.

Here are some of the pieces that the artists created in Arunas’s Bellissima Art Escape.

This Escape Includes

• three days instruction

• assorted metal scrap pieces

• banding

• spray paints

• paint pens

• rivets

• three lunches, one dinner

• new art tribe

This workshop will be held at Bellissima Art Escapes studio in Port Orchard, WA.

The price for this workshop is $800

A $400 non refundable deposit is due at registration with the remaining $400 due April 18.

The workshop is limited to 12

STUDENT SUPPLY LIST

• Two 12’x12” x 1-5/8” cradled birch panels

• organic vapor respirator

• safety glasses

• gloves (knit garden gloves with vinyl coated palms

• ephemera to attach to your boards

Itinerary

Day One, Friday July 18. We will meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m. for introductions and to go over the workshop schedule. Lunch will be provided.

Day Two, Saturday July 19, It’s a whole day in the studio working on cutting and assembling our metal strips. Arunas will also address how to patina our metal strips. Lunch and dinner will be provided.

Day Three, Sunday July 20, We will meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m. to finish up our pieces. We will stop for lunch, then finish any last minutes details before we clean up and have our Show ‘N Tell. Class will be over at 3:30 p.m.

Arunas taught Industrial Design at Western Washington University for 33 years, having recently retired. He weaves metal baskets and metal quilts and sells his art in festivals throughout the west. When things get too rainy they pack up the family and head south of the border to dry out. Educationally, he got a few degrees from Montana State University and the University of Illinois. Prior to teaching, Arunas worked for Haworth designing office furniture, a Chicago architectural firm, and has consulted on many products from carbon fiber snowshoes to hog feeders.

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 30 years of experience organizing trips for foodies and artists.

THE POWER OF 12 WITH MICHAEL SHEMCHUK

October 3-11, 2025

Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico

Join Michael Shemchuk aka Shem in the UNESCO city of Oaxaca, the state capital of Oaxaca, Mexico for a dynamic workshop that will allow you to produce a cohesive body of work.

The Power of 12 workshop is designed for artists who desire to create a body of work. With a focus on quality and quantity, we work on 12 (yes 12!) 12”x12” panels.

In this class we take our creative energy onto the production line. This fast paced class is an exercise in design, composition and decision making at a high production level. The grouping of 12 panels presents a pivotal opportunity to format and orient your work in numerous ways. You decide which orientation format and visual dialog you want between your panels — Rows (6 over 6), Stacked (3 over 4), Vertical, Diptychs, Triptychs or all 12 panels in a linear installation. It’s your preference.

AbD (Abstraction by Design)

The Abstraction by Design method is the process of exploring collage and painting techniques by multi-layering the mediums of paper and paint on panels.

The layering of paper and paint enables us to sand, scrape, wet, peel, paint, collage and repeat to create controlled and incidental textured surfaces. We use acrylic polyurethane as a glue to attach papers, as a resist coat, and as a top coat as well.

Collaging involves color selection, paper choices, placement, gluing, mark making, composition and surface extraction. Painting involves panel prep, trowel application, brushing, sanding, surface manipulations, paint mixing and texturing.

A.R.R. (Action, Review, Reaction)

We begin the AbD process with an action by applying paint or collage to our panels. Pause and review the action, then repeat another action.

This requires taking time to observe your work, measure your response to both the controlled (deliberate) and spontaneous (incidents/happy accidents). We follow the A.R.R. principles as we create your work.

ITINERARY

Day 1, Friday, October 3. Everyone arrives and we will meet at 6:30 outside of the studio for a welcome drink and some botanas.

Day 2, Saturday, October 4. Have breakfast and then meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m. to start creating with Shem. We will stop for lunch at 12:30, then afterward, we will take you on a quick walking tour to help orient you to this wonderful city. We will return to the studio and continuing working until 5:00 p.m. At 7:00 p.m. we will walk to our friend Chef Pilar Cabrera’s La Olla restaurant for our special dinner on the rooftop.

Day 3, Sunday, October 5. Breakfast and then into the studio at 9:30 a.m. We will break for lunch and then continue creating. You will have some free time at 4:30 before we meet for dinner this evening.

Day 4, Monday, October 6. TRAVEL DAY Have breakfast and then meet in the lobby at 8:30 a.m. We will travel to the Blind Potter’s studio in San Antonio for a private lesson with members of his family. We will stop for lunch before our back strap weaving demonstration with the lovely Gomez family. Afterward, we will visit Jacobo and Maria Angeles’ expansive studio in Tilcajete to learn about the alebrijes, those colorfully painted animals found in this village. Dinner will be on your own this evening.

Blind Potter’s Studio below

The amazing work of Jacobo and Maria’s studio - from carving, painting and some of the finished work.

This Art Escape includes:

• 8 nights accommodations (double occupancy)

• Visits to different artisan villages -alebrijes, backstrap weaving, pottery

• Instructions/guidance from Shem

• Welcome reception and fiesta

• All meals except for two dinners

• Visits to markets

• 2 Cooking Classes

• Free time to explore

• Farewell dinner

• Some supplies

• Private Facebook page

• New Art Tribe

The price for this workshop is $4,100 and limited to 12 people. A limited number of single rooms are available for an additional $600.

A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registering. The final payment is due June 11, 2025.

Price does not include:

• airfare to/from Oaxaca

• alcoholic beverages

Travel insurance is required. See FAQs for recommendations.

Accommodations: Located in a colonial building just two blocks from the zocolo, Hotel Naura has free wifi, a restaurant, a pool, bar and rooftop terrace. It is located across from the Textile Museum. 

Airport: Xoxocotlan International Airport is an international airport located in Oaxaca City, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Airport has only one terminal that handles domestic and international air traffic. Code: OAX.

We will Provide

• scrubber sponges

• 80 grit sandpaper and sanding block

• 2” chip brushes

• gallon buckets

• paint rags/stir sticks

• White and black latex house paint

• Acrylic urethane/varnish clean medium (gloss or semigloss)

• Pint/quart plastic mixing containers w/lids

• Gallon buckets

• Heat gun

Student Supply List

• Twelve 12”x12” wood panels

• 18+ sheets black tissue. Resource: https://www.papermart.com

• 12+ sheets 18”x22” newsprint.

• Variety of personal collage papers and color tissue (color, pattern, graphics, craft paper and re-purposed).

• Color paint. 3-6 colors of latex house or acrylic artist paints or liquid pigments

• One 6”wide flexible broad knife and

• One 1” putty knife.

• Scissors

• Utility knife

• Spray bottle (atomizer)

• wiping rags

• artist brushes

• painters tape

Day 5, Tuesday October 7. Breakfast, studio, lunch, studio and then we will meet this evening for dinner of tlayudas.

Day 6, Wednesday, October 8. Same as day 5 except this evening, we will have a cooking class with Chef Ana Elena Martinez.

Day 7, Thursday October 9, TRAVEL DAY. Have your breakfast and then meet in the lobby for our ride to the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle for our cooking class with Chef Reyna Mendoza. You will have some free time after we return to Oaxaca and dinner will be on your own.

Day 8, Friday, October 10. Breakfast and then meet in the studio at 9:00 a.m. to finish our work. After we clean up, we will have a Show ‘N Tell. You will be amazed at what you create! Then off to the market for lunch and then you will have the afternoon free before we gather for our final dinner together.

Day 9, Saturday, October 11. The trip is over.

BLACK AND WHITE PARTY WITH DANIELLA WOOLF

October 11-19, 2025 Oaxaca City, Oaxaca Mexico

Anyone who has started an encaustic practice knows who Daniella Woolf is. A longtime respected international artist, she now focuses on her love of textiles and pattern.

We are thrilled to share that Daniella will guide us through black and white studies in Oaxaca. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to study with such an experienced and gifted artist.

The Workshop

Imagine being in a supportive atmosphere where your creativity can take a giant leap forward! This is an opportunity to work with contrast, and limit your choices, which is a great creativity booster. In Daniella’s art practice, she often limits the tools or materials she uses, which somehow magically makes creativity blossom. It also helps to pack less supplies when traveling!

We will make art primarily out of paper in 2D or 3D.
Daily exercises are designed to spark your imagination and guide you through fun ways to work.

We will make imagery using black and white. Some of the possibilities include shredding our imagery, and constructing grids and much more.

We’ll share an evening where we dress the part, a Black and White dress up party. Let your inner fashionista go wild. Perhaps we will paint our fingers and toes black and white. Imagine the fun spectacle we can create.

Daniella will present a black and white slide show of items in her home/closet/studio/travels. Please bring something similar…it could be a photo montage, book, online post, or collage—pick the medium that suits your expression best. This will serve as a warm up for ideas and inspiration.

Think about these common phrases and how they can inspire you, even to create a series of work around these themes.

• Black and White Thinking

• Black and White and Read all over

• 50 Shades of White

• Research quotes on Black and White

Be ready to go on outings to discover what materials we can buy at the local art/hardware store. We will explore the town for black and white articles, and possibly build black and white altars for loved ones.

If you are interested in pursuing your own artistic agenda, Daniella is happy for you to carry on. If you would like guidance or feedback, she’s happy to oblige, or simply cheer you on!

This Art Escape includes:

• 8 nights accommodations (double occupancy)

• Visits to different artisan villages

• Instructions/guidance from Daniella

• Welcome reception and fiesta

• All meals except for one lunch and one dinner

• Visits to markets

• 2 Cooking Classes

• Free time to explore

• Farewell dinner

• Some supplies

• Private Facebook page

• New Art Tribe

The price for this workshop is $4,100 and limited to 12 people. A limited number of single rooms are available for an additional $600.

A $1,000 non refundable deposit is due upon registering. The final payment is due June 11, 2025.

Price does not include:

• airfare to/from Oaxaca

• alcoholic beverages

Travel insurance is required. See FAQs for recommendations.

Accommodations: Located in a colonial building just two blocks from the zocolo, Hotel Naura has free wifi, a restaurant, a pool, bar and rooftop terrace. It is located across from the Textile Museum. 

Airport: Xoxocotlan International Airport is an international airport located in Oaxaca City, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Airport has only one terminal that handles domestic and international air traffic. Code: OAX.

We will Provide

• shredders

• some paint

• some papers

• water / palates

Artists Supply List

• paper

• sketchbook

• stencils

• fabric

• thread

• paint

• ink

• brushes

• pens and pencils

• erasers to make stamps

• scissors/apron

Schedule

Day 1, Saturday Oct. 11. Everyone arrives and we will meet this evening for a welcoming party

Day 2, Sunday October 12. Breakfast at the hotel, then meet in the studio at 9:30 a.m. Daniella will begin to guide us in our studies. We will break for a quick walk around the “hood” to orient you after our lunch in the hotel. Returning to the studio, we will continue to work. This evening we will have a special dinner at La Olla, at our amiga’s Pilar Cabrera’s rooftop restaurant.

Day 3, Monday October 13. After breakfast, we will head to the art store and the market to gather ideas for our studies. Lunch and dinner will be provided.

Day 4, Tuesday October 14. Breakfast at the hotel and then we are off to the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle for a cooking class with Reina Mendoza. We will explore the local market with Reina before our class. You will have free time after we return to Oaxaca. Dinner is on your own this evening.

Day 5, Wednesday, October 15. Breakfast at the hotel and then in the studio all day, breaking for lunch. Dinner will be provided.

Day 6, Thursday, October 16. Breakfast and then in the studio at 9:30. We will go to the market for lunch today before returning to the studio. Dinner will be provided.

Day 7, Friday, October 17. Breakfast and then into the studio for a full day of creativity. Lunch at the hotel. This evening will be a cooking class with Chef Ana Elena Martinez.

Day 8, Saturday, October 18. Breakfast and then into the studio to finish our work before our Show “N Tell. Lunch will be on your own and you will have free time until our farewell dinner this evening.

Day 9, Sunday, October 19. The trip is over and you are free to leave anytime.

Daniella Woolf is an artist living in the seacoast town of Santa Cruz, CA. She focuses on paper, pattern and textiles. Her work is exhibited internationally and is in many collections and publications. She is the author of two books, Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility and The Encaustic Studio, and has produced many instructional DVDs.

She has inspired many students in the US, internationally and online. She is the recipient of the Rydell Award and Gail Rich Award.

For in depth information here is a link to an interview entitled Paper Paper and Paper at TextileArtist.org.