This week I'm teaching a five-day in-person workshop: Mixed Media Collage Intensive. The workshop is for intermediate to advanced students and the focus of the workshop is on creating a body of work — a series of 6-10 pieces that you’re proud of and reflect who you are as an artist. Some of the topics we are covering this week are:
- personal voice
- when to know if it's done
- working in a series
- value
- contrast
- composition
- focal point
- how to use a sketchbook (studio notebook) for a mixed media collage practice
- how to analyze and assess your own work
- how to move forward
They are the product of research, experimentation, thoughtful exercises, and careful assessment — all things we are focusing on this week.
These pieces are part of a series of 6 pieces collectively titled "Charles River: August 2023."
For the past few years, I've been working with two intertwining concepts: "abstracted every day" & "motherhood."
My three-year-old exploded, like a bomb, into my life when he was born at the end of 2019. I changed & so my art necessarily had to. One of his favorite activities this summer was walking along the Charles River. We'd throw rocks, feed ducks, examine plants and stones, and look for paths through the trees where we could get close to the water. I knew that I wanted to do some work that reflected these walks – capturing both the aesthetics and the mood.
To prepare for the series, I took photos on our walks, sketched, & journaled.
Then I experimented with several different styles & processes in order to determine the look of the series.
Once the parameters were settled, I loosely sketched out each of the 6 pieces in the series. Then I chose my palette and hand printed all of my collage papers.
Over several days, I worked in layers, using collage, painting & drawing, until I got the depth I was after.
I'm delighted with how the series turned out. And I'm sooooo looking forward to class.
If you're in the Boston area, I am offering two half-day gelatin printing classes on Saturday (September 16). All the supplies (including the gelatin plate) are provided. Take one of the classes or take both and make a day of it! You will leave class with a stack of artwork and a head full of techniques and ideas! I would love to see you in my home studio on Saturday!
"Just took a class with Julie this past weekend and it was awesome. She is real and her classes build from easy techniques into the more difficult. I highly recommend taking a class with her!"
And if you're not in the Boston area, but you still want to take a class from me, check out my upcoming live online (via Zoom) Botanical Monotype Collage class. It's all about mixing collage and printmaking together so that you're collaging on top of prints and printing on top of collage. It's a process that is super unique and lots of fun!
Thanks for stopping by!
