Upcoming Classes @ Multnomah Arts Center: REGISTER NOW

Young Artists—Drawing & Painting 

Action! Brushstrokes! Beautiful lines, gorgeous colors, wild shapes, and interesting composition! Learn about all of these as we experiment with paint and pastels, and try out techniques such as painting, drawing, and printmaking. Create amazing faces, places, flowers, fish, abstractions, and more. 

Ages 6 - 8
1079555  Tu.  3:30 - 4:30 pm   Oct. 3 - 31   $73 [5 classes] 

1079558  Tu.  3:30 - 4:30 pm   Nov. 7 - Dec. 5   $73 [5 classes]  

Ages 9 - 13
1079556  Tu.  4:45 - 6:15 pm   Oct. 3 - 31   $100 [5 classes] 
1079557  Tu.  4:45 - 6:15 pm   Nov. 7 - Dec. 5   $100 [5 classes]  

The History of Fashion— Design & Drawing     

Where and how does a fashion designer get their ideas? Look at clothes across time and cultures to inspire designs. Learn how fashion designers express their ideas, and explore the connections between historical events and clothing over the course of history. Through a variety of art explorations, students will try their hand at fashion sketching and clothing and fabric design. Working from lots of resources, explore sources of inspiration—from history and from today’s influences—and the importance of design elements such as color, line, and composition in visual presentations.

Ages 9 - 14
1079553  Wed.  4 - 5:30 pm Oct. 4 - Nov. 1   $100 [5 classes]
1079554  Wed.  4 - 5:30 pm Nov. 8 - Dec. 6   $100 [5 classes] 

Saturday Workshops

Drawing & Painting— Three Layer Painting   
Ages 8 - 13
In this fun and creative workshop, learn about color mixing, line, pattern, composition, and paint application as we create vivid original paintings in three layers.

FAMILY Parents/guardians are welcome to register with their child.
1080532  Sat.  1 - 3:30 pm Oct. 14   $33 [1 class]

Drawing & Painting— Fabulous Faces    
Ages 8 - 13
Learn several different ways to successfully draw and paint great looking faces. Experiment with different methods and materials to create vivid and beautiful pieces of face-based art. Think wild and crazy and highly original.

FAMILY Parents/guardians are welcome to register with their child.
1080533  Sat.  1 - 3:30 pm Nov. 4   $33 [1 class]

To register,
please drop by the office or call

(503) 823-2787.
You may also register online by going to
Portland Parks & Recreation

Great Children's Art Classes Begin in January

There will be painting and drawing and even monotype printing in the next series of my children's art classes at Multnomah Arts Center. There is even something new and different added for teens - Fashion Art.

Classes begin on Monday, January 6th so register now.
Young Artists—Drawing & Painting

Action! Brushstrokes! Beautiful lines and wild shapes! Develop skill in composition, color mixing and putting thoughts and feelings into your work. Experiment with materials such as paint, markers, acrylics, tempera, and pastels. Explore faces, places, flowers, fish, abstraction and more.

Monday Classes 

Ages 6 - 8

Jan. 6 - Feb. 3 $44 [4 classes]

416195 Mon. 3:30 - 4:30 pm
 
Feb. 10 - Mar. 17 $55 [5 classes]
416201 Mon. 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Ages 9 - 12 Jan. 6 - Feb. 3 $64 [4 classes]
416203 Mon. 4:45 - 6:15 pm

Feb. 10 - Mar. 17 $80 [5 classes]
416205 Mon. 4:45 - 6:15 pm

Thursday Classes 

Ages 6 - 8

Jan. 9 - Feb. 6 $55 [5 classes]

416207 Th. 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Feb. 13 - Mar. 13 $55 [5 classes]

416209 Th. 3:30 - 4:30 pm

Ages 9 - 12  

Jan. 9 - Feb. 6 $55 [5 classes]

416211 Th. 4:45 - 5:45 pm

Feb. 13 - Mar. 13 $55 [5 classes]

416213 Th. 4:45 - 5:45 pm

New! Fashion Art for Teens
This class is an introduction to the art (and business) of fashion. Through a variety of art projects, try your hand at fashion sketching, clothing and fabric design, display and marketing design. Working from lots of resources, explore sources of inspiration from history and from today’s influences, and the importance of design elements such as color, line and composition in visual presentations.

Ages 13 - 18
Jan. 9 - Feb. 27 $120 [8 classes]
416776 Th. 6:15 - 7:45 pm

 

To register,
please drop by the office or call us at (503) 823-2787. You may also register online by going to Portland Parks & Recreation and clicking “Register Now.” First time users will need to create an account with Portland Parks by making an online request or by calling the PP&R Customer Service Center at (503)823-2525, 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.

 

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Time to Register Your Kids for Summer Art Classes

MULTNOMAH ARTS CENTER SUMMER CLASSES

Painting & Drawing (and the elements of design)

Pique your curiosity and creativity discovering techniques to develop drawing and painting skills using different media—pencil, ink, pastels and water-based paint. Discover dimension and depth while producing unique and pleasing compositions.

Experience the art of ‘seeing’!

TUESDAY 
AGES 6 - 9

383562 Tu. 1:00 - 2:00 pm

Jul. 23 - Aug. 20 $50 [5 classes]

AGES 9 - 12

383566 Tu. 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Jul. 23 - Aug. 20 $50 [5 classes]

THURSDAY 
AGES 6 - 9 
402627 Th. 9:30 - 10:30 am

Jul. 25 - Aug. 22 $50 [5 classes]

AGES 9 - 12

402628 Th. 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Jul. 25 - Aug. 22 $50 [5 classes]

K is for Kandinsky

Inspired by Kandinsky  Tempered Elan 1944

One of the very best parts of my life as an artist is the classes I take. I have often raved about my wonderful teacher, Illa Guttman, and her outstanding Dynamic Abstracts classes, all rooted in art history. Each class is an opportunity to be introduced to another abstract artist, analyze his or her work, and take inspiration from the artist to create our own work.

I tend to fall in love a lot in these classes, meeting old favorites and discovering new ones. But it was Moscow born Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) who stole my heart. His use of color, his imaginative shapes, his vivid use of line, the way he works within a flat plane, and so much more, all  resonate with my own Russian roots.

This painting (18x24 acrylic on canvas) was done in class, inspired by a work called Tempered Elan. The flowing shape reminds me of the gorgeous Russian embroidery I so admire, and the little bird shape recalls a Matryoshka (those brightly colored nesting dolls) for me. The colors and the pattern are my own, but the freedom to paint this free flowing shape is pure Kandinsky.

To learn more about this artist, and see images of his work, visit this site Kandinsky 

Another Summer Art Workshop for Creative Kids

Abstract Painting at 100th Monkey Studio in Portland

Leader: Tobi Kibel Piatek
August 3rd from 12-4pm
COST: $40 CLICK TO REGISTER
A painting workshop in which young artists will get in touch with their creativity, love of color and art by creating abstract paintings. In this workshop we will experiment with brushes and paint, learn about a different abstract artist each class, analyze art created by that artist to understand how he or she used color, line, texture and composition to create their work, and use what we learn to create our own abstract art in paint.

On Painting in Series

In the Red Room Variation 2

Having now completed four paintings in this series, and working on the design for number five, a whole new set of problems begins to arise. How do I continue in a theme, using several "givens" yet create variety and maintain interest (my own and the viewers)?

On the list of things to do to work in series is ANALYSIS. As I work on this project I keep coming back to the need to analyze everything I am doing. I need to carefully analyze the botanical shapes of real flowers in order to work toward abstraction. I need to analyze the images that actually take shape my canvas for line quality, color, texture, feeling and style, and, because this is a series, visual consistency.  Very challenging. Very interesting.


The deeper I go in the series, the more important it becomes to plan ahead. I sketch frequently and try lots of variations before I move to the canvas. However, in spite of the careful planning, I am reminded constantly that paint does not behave like a pen, so the results are not necessarily what I start out to create. So, now I am learning to add more detail and pay more attention to the sketches I prepare and analyze all the things I want to accomplish in the piece: the shapes - are they big enough to paint as separate entities? Are they distinct from each other? Does it matter? The colors - I am working on a red background and limiting my palette so that I use the same paints in all the paintings. So, How do the colors play off the background? How do they work together?  Also, (and one of the best parts of the process) is discovering how the mixes from the limited palette create fabulous and harmonious results.

The big picture:  With now four pieces in the series, I need to compare how the shapes and colors and composition of each new piece works with the existing paintings as part of a whole. I also find that as I complete a new piece, I want to go back to the earlier piece to improve it with something new I have just learned. Variation 2 - above is still in process, but I now know what I need to do to complete it - that's progress.

So, to answer a question asked on this blog, has the process helped to narrow my focus? Absolutely, I know where I want to go, I feel more and more comfortable doing this work, because each repetition provides practice, skill building and a better understanding of how to put a painting together. But also, not at all, because the more I paint, the more I experiment, the more I analyze what I want to do, the broader my imaginings become - I keep seeing over the horizon to what's next ... we will see.

Finding my Voice

Pastel on Black

Acrylics, pastel, markers, pens, color blocks, simple lines, abstract, art deco, painterly, graphical. Which way do I work? What do I want to do? Do I want to paint or draw, free form or delineated shapes? Lines or blobs, loose or structured?

The walls of my studio are crowded with the many and varied images I have created since I started to paint in acrylics this fall. There are  abstract faces, flows and stripes of vivid color, wild bright flowers,  mysterious forests, lovely girls in pretty dresses, symmetrical patterns and subtle geometrics. I also see drawings, pastels, line images and complicated symmetrical patterns.

What I can not yet see is a theme ... what DO I paint? What is my style? What do I want to say? Will I learn to say it? Will others want to see it? Will I feel good enough about my work to show it?

Classes help - every week another artist to study and think about, another technique or concept to consider and incorporate. Every class brings another artist to fall in love with, a new idea to marvel at or a color that compels me. Every class makes me  think, THIS is the way I want to work, and every week I realize how much I do not know, how much I can not do, and how much I want to learn.
Lately though, I am beginning to see some growth - an idea from one painting, a color combination, a technique I have learned, a style I particularly enjoy carrying over into my new work and shaping my choices. Last night I dreamed of bold sweeping lines, inspired by work I see in my classes, yet when I set out to work today, the image that I suddenly decided to draw was not lines at all, but loose, bright colored shapes - lights and darks, and not a painting, but a pastel. So, here it is, pastel on black paper, small and  square.

I am happy for today - the results are vibrant, the process was fun - and these are definitely MY colors, and those lines that have been so compelling to me lately? They are here too.  Is this a step to finding my own voice?

Creative Kids Create Beauty

Elly

The results of the spring break abstract painting workshop are impressive. The rainy days were perfect for painting and learning about artists and the ways they used color and line to express their ideas and feelings. One class focused on Kandinsky and the other on Georgia O'Keefe. Her flowing lines and blending colors were especially inspiring. This lesson was a great way to explore warm and cool colors, and to experiment with color mixing, on the palette and on the page.  This work by Elly is a great  example of the beautiful results. (These were hard to photograph because the heavy paint curled the still damp pages or I would have added more.)

Alison

You can't talk about Georgia O'Keefe without talking about giant flowers. The kids chose their own images to draw and paint from a collection of macro flower images. Here again, the paintings were impressive in their detail and color.

Among the resources I had available for exploration was a book that got a lot of attention - What's the Big Idea? Activities and Adventures in ABSTRACT ART by Joyce Raimondo  is filled with ideas for projects for and by kids. I recommend it (and so do your kids.) Here is the link to it on Amazon.

Please follow this site for upcoming class information ... and thank you all for attending.

In name only

Name Game

I have been very busy lately. My weeks seem to fly by -  filled with planning and teaching and taking art classes.

My Saturdays have been fabulously filled by a painting class, Dynamic Abstracts with Illa Guttman at PCC. This class is six hours of feeling like a fool followed by the elation of actually creating a painting. Some weeks are better than others - and it is wonderful to be part of a group, and especially, to have such a wonderful teacher.

I am also planning to teach an abstract painting class for kids next week, Spring Break. I am ready - bursting with ideas to share and things to do. I find myself poring over books of paintings in the library and visiting galleries - just looking at how abstract artists work, thinking about ways to express what I want my students to know. All of this causes me to think of about lines and color and shapes in different ways, and to experiment with varied projects to see what results.

I will be teaching my students to create abstract images with tempera, and I use acrylic in my PCC class, and frequently in my own studio, yet, I often find myself returning to these line drawings. They are fun to do, relaxing, more accessible than paint and far neater, and they are a different way for me to explore flow, color, overlap, shapes and ... some kind of grace - maybe the unexpectedness of finding shapes and forms I do not plan - which somehow feels to me like the very heart of abstract expression.

This image is based on a painting project I did earlier this year - the lines are my name, written in different sizes and directions, always crossing, forming new shapes. It is 9x12 on watercolor paper, done with fine tip pens.

Playing Some More

Woven/Warm

I am on a roll, playing with shapes and lines and color, and continuing to explore abstraction. Each of the pictures I have done in this series is based on a different line shape.

Like the others, this drawing combines markers and watercolor pencils on watercolor paper. My eyes hurt from drawing all the lines, but this is fun ...

Playing

City Life

I am preparing a new class for a new, and older audience, so I have been considering ways to offer my students some accessible and fun projects that will encourage them to want to play with art, and make it a regular and enjoyable part of their lives.

In my own studio, I am still struggling to create strong abstract images with acrylics. To help, and to free my creative juices, I  am currently working through some of the exercises in a book, Painting Abstracts, by Rolina a Van Vliet. I have found the most success by following her suggestions for using lines to create interesting and dynamic compositions. She also has ideas for using different media to create with - and basically, if she mentions it, I have it somewhere in my collection of art supplies - my favorite toys.

So, this week's work has turned out to be a productive one. I played with some new techniques, tried out some new color pencils, and developed several project ideas that I think will please my new class. All this while having a fun and relaxing time being creative.

Next in Line(s)

The top image, (10x12 on heavy watercolor paper) combines marker with water color pencil and water to get a variety of textures.


The bottom is the same size, but done in a combination of color markers and color pencils. I especially enjoyed using lines to create shapes and motion, and then building color in cross hatches and overlays. Fun ...

Goals for the New Year

Koi (for C and H) Acrylic on canvas 18"x24"

New Years Resolutions are a good idea. According to the book I am reading for book group, The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, resolutions not only increase your productivity or decrease your thighs, setting and keeping resolutions can make you happier. I would be happy to be happier all the time. One way I can see that I would be happier  - is if I were a better painter.

So my resolution for this year - to constantly learn how to paint.

I have a strong start on this goal - beginning last summer when I picked up a paint brush to experiment with tempera paint I got at a garage sale. At the same garage sale, I bought, for a dime, the Watercolor Lesson-a-Day Calendar. These are tiny sketches to be painted and colored, of 365 paintings by dozens of artists and styles. I really enjoy looking at these images, and found myself sorting them into types - with consideration for how each was painted. I was looking for simple images, and ideas for paintings I, with my limited skills and ability, and especially, my young students, could try to paint.

I have written before about how I stumbled into abstract art in by seeking ways to teach, and by seeing with new eyes, the works of Klee and Kandinsky, Matisse and Miro.  Since summer, as I have been combining learning to use acrylic paint with my study of abstract art, I have learned a great deal. Not the least of which is  how much I need to know to become a better painter (as defined by my own criteria).

To accomplish this, my primary goals for the moment, until I discover what I need to know next, is to learn and improve technique  -the How-to's

• how to create texture with paint
• how to create better brush strokes
• to use paint like pastels - blend on the surface
• use a palette knife 
• create 'impressions' with paint
• learn to abstract 
• learn to be more impressionistic, trees, flowers, simple shapes to create  impression 
• ... abstract impressionism, expressionism

Based on my experience and the process of learning to paint,  I know I am doing some things right. I am taking classes in Dynamic Abstract painting at PCC.  I have befriended a helpful salesman at Aaron Brothers, where I buy my (steady stream of) art supplies. He is always willing to share a book recommendation or a bit of advice on paint, pigment, tools and materials. And, he figures out how to make the most of my coupons.

Another great resource has turned out to be the internet (what a surprise!). I have learned so much, and gotten so many cool ideas from videos that artists and teachers post of themselves painting and teaching on YouTube. And course, there are books. Amazon is richer for my growing collection.

The greatest teacher in this process has been practice. I feel as if I am learning to cook - trying new ingredients and recipes every day.  I have filled canvases and sketch pads and pastel sheets with color and images. I have generated quite a bit of work - even some that I am proud of. I can not express how much I gained from the Art Everyday for a Month challenge.  As a result of making art often - with no goal except learning from the process,  I can see progress, change, confidence and pleasure in what I am doing - so, I want to keep doing it.

Therefore, I have saved my last two resolutions/goals for last ...

I believe that for me to meet my goals, I need to to paint or draw or work digitally - at least 4 times a week, to build my skills, and expand my creative arena. To really be happy doing this, I need external motivation - I need to connect with other artists and teachers, anyone with the desire to learn to make art, or to share what they know. So, I want to:

• to teach my own classes, based on my own ideas, and 
• become part of a painting group - for a regular opportunity to meet, work, critique, share and learn with a group with common goals.

And one more thing, I also want to learn how to market art ... but first I want to make more of it ...

What are your goals as an artist? How will you meet them? Any ideas for me?

Happy New Year.