Workshop Content: Get ready to unleash your creativity in a vibrant workshop that’s all about fun and exploration! We will be diving into the world of abstract art, using an inspiring piece as our visual guide. This is your chance to discover exciting techniques with acrylic paint and create work that’s not just expressive, but truly personal and contemporary.

Expect engaging demonstrations and personalized support every step of the way, along with plenty of time to get you hands messy and paint! You’ll have the opportunity to dive deep into you artistic process, helping you connect more profoundly with your creative spirit.

This class encourages experimentation and fosters a sense of community, and everyone is welcome to join!

Supply List:

• Stretched Canvas 24 x 24 or size of your choice
• Acrylic paints, Black, White, Yellow Ochre, Red Oxide or Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow, or additional paints colors of your choice,
• Suggested tools
  • Pencils: Regular and White china pencil for mark-making, colored, etc
  • Brushes: A variety of sizes, including at least one large brush for a big canvas
  • Palette knives, sponges, paper towels, water container, one or two personal tools for moving paint around (just grab something), water spray bottle, rag.

Biography: Catron is a full-time abstract artist with over 30 years of experience. In 2020, she was honored to be named Nashville Art Creator of the Year by Nashville Lifestyle Magazine. Her work has been showcased in 14 galleries across the southeast and featured in corporate and residential settings throughout the US. Throughout her career, Catron has been interviewed and featured in various magazine, TV and radio shows, including HGTV, PBS, Nashville Lifestyles, and Legends magazines. Catron was also voted to participated in the Art Wall for the AT&T building in downtown Nashville. The Christmas day bombing destroyed the wall, but it couldn’t ruin her spirit. In response, the Color Nashville Art Project invited her and other local artists to participate in painting joyful scenes over the boarded-up windows, bringing beauty and hope to the affected area.

Recently, in addition to her time creating at the easel, Catron has enjoyed leading abstract painting soiree’s combining fun, fellowship, and inspiration for corporate events and private parties. These events provide a safe and enjoyable environment for both painters and nonpainters to have fun and create something unique and personal.

Instructor Website: https://www.catronwallace.art

Workshop Content: It’s springtime – the season for flowers! Discover the magic of gel plate printing, learn to paint with paper, and let your creativity flow into abstract florals. Whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced artist looking for inspiration, this mixed media collage course is for you! In this hands-on workshop, Kathy will show you how to master collage tools, techniques, and styles. Dive into color, patterns, texture, and composition in a relaxed and fun environment. You’ll leave with 2-3 unique artworks and fresh ideas to continue your creative journey! Learn how to:

• Choose a color palette. Mix and apply colors using a limited palette, with an emphasis on values, contrast, and color harmony
• Prepare your canvas and plan a composition
• Use a variety of tools and papers to create vibrant prints, layered backgrounds, and interesting textures
• Create vibrant prints with a Gelli Plate
• Use stencils, stamps, and carving tools
• Experiment with various papers for effect (magazine, tissue, deli wraps, teabag paper, newsprint, etc.)
• Create pre-collage skins, stains, and cut-outs for color, shape, and texture
• Compose and assemble a balanced collage using your prepared papers, focusing on contrast, composition, and layering
• Build 2-3 collages trying various techniques from start to finish
• Bring it all together with finishing touches

Day one: Develop a purpose-driven palette of artful papers from magazines, deli paper, tissue, and acrylic paint for use in developing your own collage. Learn to use a Gelli Pad, carving tools, masks, and cut-outs to support your composition. Practice collage techniques as you build your substrate from the bottom up.

Day two: Learn to edit with paint and paper to refine and personalize your composition. We’ll complete 2-3 pieces so that you can practice various techniques working with collage.

Day three will be reserved for completing your work. Kathy will share tips on finishing, sealing, and displaying your masterpiece.

Supply List: Supplies (please see this list for details and links)

• I have a few Gelli Plates and brayers available for sharing
• PROVIDED: Consumable art supplies (e.g. substrates, paint, papers, medium, wetting trays, various tools to share)
• YOU BRING: Your basic tools (e.g. Gelli Pad & brayer, craft brushes, scissors, paper towels, water bucket) and stuff you already own that you might want to use (e.g. Posca pens, stamps, stencils, papers)

Biography: I love to create with paper — cut, torn, sliced, ripped, painted, and reassembled. I am particularly drawn to the look, color, texture and malleable nature of torn magazines and painted papers. Patterns and colors can be layered to create mystery, texture, and depth. Discovering the hidden images embedded in collage creates a mystery that I simply can’t resist! I have been collaging for 15 years and never grow tired of it. Come explore with me!

Community Art Project – All Welcome!

Class Content: We are going to collaborate together! Each student will make a 4 inch square of felt, and then we will put all the squares together into a Community Project. This project will be displayed at the Tellico Library. This class is a new experiment: we will learn and practice wet felting techniques that you can apply to other projects, but we will combine our finished art pieces today into a community art project. When it is displayed at the library, viewers will be able to move the pieces around to create new designs, and they will be introduced to the art of wool fiber art.

During our class, you will learn surface design techniques for felting wool: using the color wheel to choose colors, using plant fibers to embellish, using black and white to enhance design, using lines to make movement, using fabrics to create textures, using shapes to create focal points. I will supply all wool, fibers, fabrics, and bubble wrap.

Supply List:

• 6 old hand towels/dish towels
• one small 1 quart bowl
• one ball brause IF you have it
• embroidery needles IF you have them (1 or 2)
• scissors

Biography: I have been teaching felting classes for two years. I have focused on teaching the wet felting process to create structural shapes and 2D designs. During the last 10 years, I have felted vessels, garments, and sculptures. Finding and using fabrics to incorporate into the felting process is a small obsession of mine. I have been inspired by the art of Fiona Duthie for many years, and I have borrowed from her Creative Sparks method to create this collaborative class that focuses on Surface Design techniques.

Instructor Website: https://woolfelteddesigns.etsy.com

Class Content: You will create a piece of 2D felted art with the wet felting process, approximately 10 inches square. If you have no experience with wool felting, have no fear, we will go through every step together. Students will learn how to handle wool roving, how wool fibers and plant fibers behave when agitated, how to use prefelted pieces to create sharp designs, how to lay out wool fibers to achieve 2D art, and how to manipulate wool with water and soap to felt it all together! If you have prior experience, but want to play with a new technique like using plant fibers, then you will find lots of fibers to play with in our class. I will supply all the wool fibers, plant fibers, prefelted fabrics, and other embellishments you will need.

Supply List:

• 6 dish towels or hand towels
• 1 old bath towel (on smaller side)
• 1 small bowl 1 Quart side
• Scissors

Biography: I have been teaching felting classes for two years, focusing on wet felting 2D art, creating small structures, and introducing the combination of plant fibers and wool fibers. I have felted many bags, garments, and sculptures in the last 10 years, and I am slightly obsessed with experimenting with all kinds of fabrics and all kinds of wool.

Instructor Website: https://woolfelteddesigns.etsy.com