Sedona Arts Center — Spring Workshops with a focus on Mixed Media and Abstraction

-Ann Brownfield Meara

At the Meditation to Creation Workshop, find inner guidance to create something beautiful in addition to reflecting, writing and art making, you will also learn and practice the ancient art of meditation. Out of mediation, profound creative insights arise.

Creativity is a process of allowing. It begins with an inner spark, which you feed, develop and actualize. Creativity must be nurtured into being. It can be both magical and astounding. But it arises when we relax enough to invite it in. Coaxing forth its flow, a wellspring of creative solutions bubble to the surface. Inner wisdom helps us initiate skillful, creative action.
Freeing the mind through meditation creates the ground for equanimity–that fertile state where brilliance breaks free.

While this workshop does cover such topics as composition, color, value, and mark making, but the real juice comes from the teachings about the creative process and how to embrace our own intuition as an artist. Through daily demonstrations, meditation and journaling, you will leave with a better understanding of embracing freedom in art and in life.

This workshop is open to all levels. If you are a beginner, you will be given the opportunity to learn composition, color mixing, mark making and more in a welcoming environment. If you are an advanced artist, Jodie will help you create your most honest work through understanding the personal energy you bring to your art, embracing your personal mark making and how you choose the color combinations in a more intuitive way. Either way, this workshop will help you and your art advance to a new level in a judgement-free, joy-filled zone.

She earned a BFA degree as an honor graduate in 1967 from the University of Georgia. She has enjoyed a successful career selling her art as well as teaching for many years in her Atlanta studio. Drawn by the light and the “wildness” of the Southwest she moved to Phoenix Arizona and lived there 16 years, and enjoyed the desert settings. Most recently Claudia recently has moved to Sedona, AZ and as always her newest paintings reflect her new environment. She shows her work at Bonner David Gallery in Scottsdale.

“My enthusiasm for my new home is very apparent in the exuberant paintings and can best be described as ‘happy’.

We will be drawing florals from a still-life setup and modifying it to create a compelling, fun composition. We’ll cover how to paint your life drawing with full range of fun, bright colors and shading. You will then learn how to hand-paint your own collage papers through a series of gel plate mono-printing techniques in the color palette inspired by your underpainting. After creating your ‘paper palette’ you will learn various techniques for tearing and applying the paper in a ‘painterly’ manner. Elizabeth will also cover how to keep your pieces perfectly flat without cockling and how to vary your paper brush marks strategically in size and shape.

‘Remember: a picture before being a battle-horse, a nude woman or some anecdote is essentially a flat surface covered with colors arranged in a certain order.’

Stuart Shils comes to us from Philadelphia offering three immersive, fast paced days in the studio focused on clarifying observation while holding the loaded brush.  Working from both the model and from reproductions including older and 20th century masters, we’ll paint our way through a guided sequence of visual exercises to understand that abstraction – composition with color and shape – is THE foundation, the great engine behind all painting. Significant emphasis will also be placed on developing a deeper familiarity with drawing in concise, abstract graphic language with graphite, collage and crayon. The take away from this class is materials based and experiential and not oriented toward ‘finished’ paintings but rather, on acquiring a more comprehensive knowledge of what a painting can be in the first place. One of the days will be spent drawing from the live model. The class will have dinner together on one of the nights.

In this expressive painting & drawing class we will begin with mark making exercises to get you creating outside the box. Through various guided activities, we will practice letting go of the final outcome and find that art can be a process of discovery! You will learn to let your intuition guide your artistic choices as we create abstract and representational paintings in a safe, encouraging environment. While you may walk away with a piece of art ready to hang on your wall, you may also walk away with a few pieces started & ready to inspire many more hours of creating. I work and teach very organically, so be prepared to go with the flow! In this class you have permission to play.

This fantastic workshop includes 48 DIFFERENT techniques!

All of the paints used will be waterbased.

Using unusual techniques developed by Geoffrey to overcome construction challenges, each student will complete a variety of forms, something they want to create. Students will be asked to bring some of their own favorite cast off materials. 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 need to be familiar with using hand and power tools such as various drills, saws, and sanders.

We will look at selecting and designing pedestals and stands for artwork. We will also learn how to making patinated and painted tin to add age and color to various forms.

Artist Statement

A broken bent tree branch, bleached from sun and rain, makes me think of weathered bones: fingers, legs, backbone, and hip bone. Old stained strips of cloth act like bandages and clothing, hiding and holding it all together. Sculpted wax covers the frame and joints of wood. Found and lost objects assembled into curious and evocative shapes is what excites me.

When I am making objects, I think of model airplanes made of balsa wood, then covered in thin transparent paper. Or I see decoys and shapes made to attract wild animals. I visited a museum in Alaska that had drawers filled with toys that had been put together, used and collected from previous cultures. I also think of a forest of tall, dark trees covered in moss and moisture, a silent, meditative place.

Starting each day with multiple, small “warm-up painting exercises” and up to larger-format paintings, Burridge’s positive approach towards the act of painting will inspire you to loosen up, have fun again and paint more! Expect an intense, concentrated and lively workshop where you will create many works of art using spontaneity for maximum effect. This workshop has become a must for artists who want the confidence and permission to paint the way they have always wanted to paint.

Students will take home preprinted notes of useful and need-to-know information.
Burridge’s newest color combination technique is also demonstrated. A positive attitude is a must!

Sedona Arts Center is one of Northern Arizona’s most well-established cultural organizations and serves as the creative heart of Sedona. Founded in 1958, the nonprofit organization is based at the Art Barn in Uptown and offers year-round classes, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events that enhance the creative life of the Verde Valley. The Center’s Fine Art Gallery, open daily from 10am to 5pm, promotes the original works of over 100 local artists and regularly offers special assistance for collectors and art buyers, offers private studio visits, and fosters hundreds of arts education opportunities each year. For more information, call the Gallery at 928-282-3865, the Administrative offices at 928-282-3809 or visit us online at SedonaArtsCenter.org.

On the cover of our 2020 Magazine: Elizabeth St Hilaire — Fashion & Flora