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 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.

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.

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.