Historic Yellow Springs

Workshops

Workshops at Chester Springs Studio include watercolor painting, oil painting, plein air, mixed media, ceramics, raku firings and more with guest artists.


Alcohol Inks Basics and Neurographic Art

Alcohol Inks Basics and Neurographic Art

Level: All levels, Adults and Teens
Limit: 8 students
Instructor: Theresa Groff, TAO
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2024
Time: 10am – 4pm
Location: Chester Springs Studio
Tuition: $100 Members, $120 Non-members
Materials Fee: $10 (payable to instructor on day of workshop)
Includes: All supplies for workshop

This class can be taken as a continuation from previous Alcohol Ink workshops or independent from previous workshops. This class will introduce Neurographic art, which is a technique comprised of drawing freeform lines or 'neuro lines. ' These are meant to enable the connection between the conscious and unconscious, gaining access to the inner self by using a specific algorithm or method. We will discuss the history and technique specific to Neurographic Art and then explore how and when to use alcohol inks with this approach. You will use alcohol inks to create your own Neurographic work of art.

Learn how to:

  • Basics of alcohol inks and how to create a base layer
  • Create ‘neuro lines’ and freeform drawing
  • Manipulating inks
  • How to erase or lift inks
  • Mask, tape, delineate areas and apply lines to define

All supplies will be provided, with a supply fee paid directly to the instructor.

This workshop is geared towards the beginner with no artistic background through to the experienced alcohol ink artist seeking new techniques and artistic development. All level welcomed…the only requirement is a spirit of adventure!

About Theresa Groff, TAO

Growing up in the Brandywine Valley, Theresa was initially drawn to plein air and painting using acrylics and oils in the Brandywine Tradition. She took classes with Karl J. Kuerner through the Brandywine River Museum—painting at the renowned Kuerner Farm. After a few years of plein air classes, Theresa pursued private study with Mr. Kuerner. Under his tutelage she developed the confidence to try new mediums and subjects. It was only after discovering alcohol inks that Theresa developed her own voice.

Theresa Groff, also known as TAO, is an intuitive alcohol ink artist, heavily influenced by the renaissance of Chester County. She states, “My art is a conversation with the higher self. I love the medium of alcohol inks because there is no control; you let go and succumb to the flow. If a mistake happens, that mistake was put there to learn and grow. I know a painting is done when my intuition indicates there is nothing more, I can learn from this ‘conversation’.”

Always happy to share her joy of alcohol inks, TAO now teaches and thoroughly enjoys when students are amazed at the work they create.

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Photography Workshop: Black and White vs. Color

Why are some pictures stronger in black and white?

Photography Workshop: Black and White vs. Color

Level: Some experience taking pictures
Limit: 12 students
Instructor: Ray Schneider
Date: Sunday, April 14, 2024
Time: 10am – 3pm (with short lunch break)
Location: Chester Springs Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $125 Members, $145 Non-members

For artists and photographers, this extremely interactive, fun workshop will explore the reasons why some pictures are stronger and more memorable in black and white. We will discuss how subject, color, texture, shape, contrast, and other factors impact the viewer’s perception of whether black and white or color makes for a stronger picture—one they don’t forget.

The workshop will be taught in two ways:

During the first part, the class will look at images from Ray’s portfolio, in both black and white and color. The images will cover the full range of photographic genres including landscape, portrait, wildlife, nature, and street photography. For each pairing we’ll share thoughts on why images feel stronger in either black and white or color, and why.

During the second part, participants will analyze pictures of their own, sent to Ray in advance. Ray will have converted each color picture into black and white and will also demonstrate the use of Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) software as a black and white conversion tool. For those familiar with Adobe Lightroom, ACR is quite similar.

Who Should Attend this Workshop: Artists and photographers interested in developing a deeper appreciation for why some pictures look better in black and white, and why they may want to consider changes to their own workflow as a result. And those interested in seeing a very powerful post-processing tool, Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), in action.

Supplies: Each participant can send up to 3 pictures (of their own) to Ray in advance of the class at rayschneider@comcast.net. The pictures can be in jpeg, or raw formats.

Prior Experience: Some photography experience will help participants get the most out of the workshop, however the main requirement for attendees is an ability to see and feel.

About Ray Schneider

Ray Schneider is a freelance photographer whose images span numerous genres including portrait, street, landscape, animals, and events. An avid traveler, his images come from over 30 countries. And he has just published a book entitled What the Photographer Sees, available on Amazon. He is a guest speaker, event photographer and photography workshop instructor in the Philadelphia area and is also the program chair for the Main Line Camera Club. For Ray, seeing like a photographer is to perceive well. It’s creating images that are more than pretty pictures—hopefully—and that trigger the viewer’s inner-voice, that suggest a story, that evolve in the consciousness as they’re viewed, that invite a sense of curiosity, that cause one to pause and maybe take a closer look.

View his work at http://www.rayschneiderphotography.com

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Testimonials

"Recently took Ray Schneider's photography workshop. I’m a mixed media collage artist with a photo-taking hobby and wanted to learn how to make my pictures better. To my utter delight, I was transfixed and hung on every word that came out of Ray’s mind and tongue because he’s so damn delightfully interesting. And I learned a lot. Most interesting is that many of the tried and true rules in photography mirror those in art making, I would recommend to peeps interested in photography (amateur or pro) to take any workshop that Ray offers."

L. Greenberg

“An amazing collection of images showing Ray's talent for seeing the unusual in very common, everyday scenes. A study of the photographer's intent to embrace the beauty of simplicity.”

VA from PA

“Ray Schneider's workshop illustrates how key ideas from the psychology of perception and image cognition can help photographers strategize how to approach their compositional choices. The presentation is communicated in a non-technical manner and every photographer, regardless of his/her/their preferred photographic genre will find it informative and helpful.”

R. Taylor – Professor Emeritus Temple University


Beyond Painting: Mixed Media

Beyond Painting: Mixed Media

Level: All levels, Adults/Teens
Limit: 8 students
Instructor: Nancy Barch
Date: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Time: 10am – 4pm
Location: Chester Springs Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $135 Members, $155 Non-members

Join me in an artistic adventure. This workshop will cover many techniques that can be used with your present media. You may want to stretch a bit and explore some compositional and design options if you’re up for it. Bring some paintings that were not successful and let’s see if we can improve them. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so let’s push forward and explore all the possibilities that mixed media has to offer.

About Nancy Barch

Nancy Barch started her career in art as a freelance illustrator in Philadelphia. She received commissions for Scottie Tissue Company, McDonalds LPGAA Golf Classic, and the American Cancer Society.

Eventually, Ms. Barch left the commercial art field and entered the fine art arena where she focused on watercolor and earned signature membership in the American Watercolor Society in New York. Ms. Barch served as Vice President of AWS for ten years and garnered numerous awards for her work.

Materials List

  • At least two surfaces to work on, either watercolor paper or, if you prefer, canvas.
  • Bring old paintings you would like to paint over.
  • Paper to use for collage, lightweight fabrics, or stamps
  • Waxed paper
  • Scissors
  • Most Important: Gel Medium (mat or glossy finish)
    This is used as an adhesive, a sealant and for image transfers. I will supply the images to transfer if you have not done this previously.
  • Joint Applicators that will be used to paint with (purchased at Home Depot or Lowes in the dry wall supplies). They’re plastic and inexpensive. They can be used as brushes.

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Making with Master Potter Jack Troy

Making with Master Potter Jack Troy

Level: Intermediate
Limit: 10 students
Instructor: Jack Troy
Length: 2 Days
Date: Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21, 2024
Time: 9:30am – 3:30pm (1-hr lunch break)
Location: Chester Springs Studio, Ceramics Studio
Tuition: $275 Members, $300 Non-members

Join Master Potter, Teacher, and Writer Jack Troy in this 2-Day Hands on Workshop in Historic Yellow Springs. Class Members will use the potter’s wheel as a starting point and discover how intentional bottle forms can evolve into works that offer no clues as to how they began. Throw an arsenal of bottle shapes and progress into enclosed forms to alter in both gentle and more vigorous ways with simple tools and paddles. Gain sensitivity to clay’s willingness to change according to its soft and leather-hard states. Enclosed forms will be manipulated and paddled around their supporting air pocket into organic and geometric shapes that can be both sculptural and functional. Years ago, Troy was introduced to a distinctive clay object from the late artist David Shaner. An apple-sized, enclosed, hollow, ceramic object that rattles softly, creating a hidden “voice” that subtly changes as the center of gravity shifts within. Troy continues to explore these rattling forms, the Japanese name of which is “ishi no sasayaki” – “stone with secret voice.” The rattle is no “gimmick,” but enlivens the space within, creating an element of surprise for whoever picks it up. Sound unique to each piece that can only be experienced after firing. This lively class will be a memorable opportunity to engage our curiosity about the potential for what we feel confident in making - creating a more expansive, and original vocabulary than we had imagined.

Hands-on class members should confidently throw bottles 6" and taller (intermediate level).

Participants are asked to bring a clay object they have lived with for at least several years that has a particular meaning to them they would like to share.

About Jack Troy

Jack Troy is a potter, teacher, and writer, from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he taught at Juniata College for 39 years. He has taught more than 260 workshops in the U. S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, and other countries, and has worked at the Institute of Ceramic Studies, Jingdezhen, China; he was an Invited Artist at Japan’s Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park. His education in ceramics has included trips to 26 countries. Having published over 100 articles in ceramics publications, he also wrote Salt Glazed Ceramics, Wood Fired Stoneware and Porcelain, as well as Calling the Planet Home, and Giving it up to the Wind [poems]. His work has been exhibited widely, and is in numerous collections, public and private, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Renwick Gallery, Auckland (NZ) Museum of Art, Kalamazoo (Michigan) Institute of Art and Alfred University. He received the 2012 NCECA (National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts) Excellence in Teaching Award, and gave the closing talk, “Anecdotal Evidence,” (accessible on You Tube) at the 49th NCECA conference in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2015, and was accorded Watershed’s “Legend” status with Paula Winokur and Wayne Higby in 2017. 2022 is Jack’s 60th year as a potter.

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Crafting for Spring in the Garden - Family Workshop

Age Level: 4-10 years
Skill Level: All levels
Limit: 10 students
Instructor: Emily Tucci
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024
Time: 12pm – 2pm
Location: Chester Springs Studio, Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $36 Members, $40 Non-members
Includes: All materials provided

Join in for a world of creativity and fun! Make Cherry Blossom Tree Paintings, to celebrate some of the first blooms of spring. Get crafty with hanging Popsicle Stick Bird Feeders. Finally, paper rolls and bowls transform into adorable forest mushrooms with a splash of paint. Join in and unleash the imagination in this delightful artistic journey!

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Exploring Color

Exploring Color

Level: Adults
Skill Level: All levels
Class Capacity: 8 students
Instructor: Jean-Marie Baldwin
Date: Sunday, May 5, 2024
Time: 10am – 4pm
Location: Chester Springs Studio, Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $108 Members, $120 Non-members

Let's learn how to mix colors in a fun and informative way. Instead of tedious charts, we will work on creating a great variety of colors using warm and cool primary colors. Explore chroma, temperature,  value, the interaction of complimentary colors and so much more.

Recommended Supply List:

  • 5 pack of 11x14 canvas panels
  • Small, medium and large bristle brushes
  • Winsor Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oil Paints 1.25 tube in:
    • Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue
    • Cadmium Red Hue
    • Permanent Alizarin Crimson
    • Cerulean Blue
    • French Ultra Marine
    • Titanium White
  • Oils or acrylics can work, but I highly recommend the above product as we don't need to use solvents. I've been using them for years and prefer them.

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Painting “Painterly” From A Photo Reference Dan Graziano Workshop

Painting “Painterly” From A Photo Reference Dan Graziano Workshop

Painting “Painterly” From A Photo Reference Dan Graziano Workshop

Level: All levels, Adults
Limit: 15 students
Instructor: Dan Graziano
Date 1: May 18 & 19, 2024
Date 2: July 27 & 28, 2024
Time: 9am – 4pm
Location: Chester Springs Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $260 Members, $270 Non-members

This two-day studio workshop will focus on painting “alla prima” (all at once) as well as developing greater skills of observation, simplification and quickly painting “wet on wet” to create strong “painterly” paintings. The workshop will also discuss techniques to quickly transfer the important elements of a reference photo to the canvas, creating an artistic painting rather than simply rendering a photograph. The first morning of the workshop begins with a discussion of oil painting basics (from materials to paint handling) and will also address the fundamentals of color, value, edges, perspective and other “practical” elements related to successful painting. Participants will then work on a series of timed painting exercises incorporating the techniques discussed and developing their skills of observation, simplification and quickly working in an “alla prima” manner. Each day of the workshop will include a short painting demo by Dan with explanation of his process along the way with plenty of one-on-one individual instruction throughout the day. This workshop is designed for beginning to advanced painters in both oil and acrylic mediums. Participants are encouraged to bring photos to paint from or may choose from photos brought by the instructor.

CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED SO REGISTER SOON. Participants supply their own art supplies and equipment (easels are provided). Link to Material List is below.

About Dan Graziano

Dan Graziano is an award winning, nationally exhibited artist whose paintings capture the hidden beauty found in the unexpected places and fleeting moments of everyday life. Incorporating dramatic light, shadow, color and perspective, his compositions feature a diversity of subjects—from a simple still life to rugged coastlines, active urban life, lively cafes and bars, small rural towns and forgotten roadside relics. His work has been featured in numerous publications and is in the collections of private and corporate collectors throughout the world.

His artistic vision began taking shape in the 60's, during America's explosive political, cultural and artistic awakening. His first formal training focused on advertising and illustration, but a career opportunity in architecture and urban planning altered his original direction.

When he returned to painting, he was drawn to the rich complexity of the urban landscape—inspired by Edward Hopper and other urbanist painters. As an accomplished blues guitarist (his other great passion), he found the city streets, time worn buildings and multiple layers of decay and repair a visual parallel to the spirit and culture of the music.

“In my paintings, I try to capture the hidden beauty found in the unexpected places and fleeting moments of everyday life. I continue to be intrigued by the urban landscapes of inner cities—their active streets, time worn buildings and multiple layers of decay, renewal and adaptation—that proudly display the effects of age and use, which I see as testaments to strength, character and authenticity in contrast with modern society’s demand for newness, imitation, disposability and easy duplication. My work is influenced by the American realists such as Sargent, Hopper and the three generations of Wyeths along with California painters Wayne Thiebaud and Richard Diebenkorn.”

Material List (pdf)

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Wake Up Your Pots with Carving

Level: Adults
Skill Level: All Levels
Class Capacity: 10 students
Instructor: Jeanie Silver
Date: Sunday, May 19, 2024
Time: 10am – 5pm
Location: Chester Springs Studio, Clay Studio
Tuition: $158 Members, $175 Non-members

Bring your pots to life with carving! If you have been reluctant to carve your pots because you think its too easy to ruin them, this workshop will show you how to succeed with Three main techniques.

  1. Direct carving
  2. Additive relief carving
  3. Pierced carving

Bring some leather hard pots and tools you think might work. I will also bring some leather hard pots and tools for you to try. All three techniques will be demonstrated and discussed. The afternoon will be for carving experimentation and sharing methods. Firing will be as each piece is ready. Finishing techniques will be discussed. This can be an adventure-packed day that will lead to richer, more personal pots.

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Botanical Watercolor

Botanical Watercolor

Level: Adults
Skill Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Class Capacity: 10 students
Instructor: Pam McKee
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2024
Time: 10am – 4pm
Location: Chester Springs Studio, Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $108 Members, $120 Non-members

In this class we will paint a peony in lovely juicy watercolors. I will have a prepared drawing ready for you so we can concentrate on technique. The level of detail is a personal choice. You will use a layering technique and shade the many folds of this flower and bud. We will explore different techniques of leaf and stem painting, and learn the subtle additions to make your blossom sing.

Recommended Supply List:

  • 11x14 Hot press watercolor paper
  • Drawing pencil and eraser
  • Brushes 2 and 4
  • Substrate
  • Masking tape
  • Palette of watercolors (you may use what you have), Some favorite colors of mine include:
    • Rose Madder Genuine
    • Quin violet
    • Ultramarine Blue
    • Aureolin Yellow
    • Cobalt Blue
    • Yellow Gold
    • Sap green
  • Lunch (You can bring your own or purchase from Mercantile Café-working on a box lunch idea)

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Crafting is Ready for Summer! - Family Workshop

Age Level: 4-10 years
Skill Level: All levels
Limit: 10 students
Instructor: Emily Tucci
Date: Sunday, May 26, 2024
Time: 12pm – 2pm
Location: Chester Springs Studio, Fine Art Studio
Tuition: $36 Members, $40 Non-members
Includes: All materials provided

Dive into creativity with a selection of exciting projects! Embark on the adventure to make Epic Sandcastle Paintings, bringing the beach to life with real sand for an extra touch of fun. Next, bloom with Flower Window Boxes using construction paper to grow fantastic flowers for late spring. To top it off, set sail for the Seaside Lighthouses, where watercolors and collage combine for a pretty beach, complete with lighthouse signaling the arrival of summer. Join us for a summer-inspired artistic journey!

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Class Evaluation Form