Contemporary Watercolor

In this class students will explore the range of possibilities that watercolor offers for expressive, contemporary painting. Formal qualities such as scale, composition, paint application, contrasting translucency with opacity, and color will be addressed. Content will also be discussed. What makes a painting evocative? Why are we drawn to certain works? Why do we make art? Experimentation will be encouraged by pushing the boundaries of conventional watercolor technique in unexpected directions. An emphasis will be placed on individual artistic growth.

All levels of experience are welcome.

Museum & Gallery Visits

Explore New York City’s vibrant art scene. Guided visits to a wide range of art galleries, outdoor installations, and museums will provide opportunities for discussion and inspiration. We will visit a different neighborhood each week and cover topics from classic to contemporary.

DIY Artists’ Curatorial Guide

This course will explore what we as artists can do for our art after the art is made. How to get our art out of the studio and into the world. How to get others, other than ourselves, to care about the art that we have made.

Applying for opportunities, residencies, grants, approaching galleries is certainly a part of this, also promoting on Instagram, we will learn about these. But also, a Do-It-Yourself attitude can take us way beyond established norms. Some have said that art is not art until it is exhibited, so how to take control of this aspect of art production? How to factor into our self conception not only making art but its distribution, its curation? Finishing the painting, or sculpture, or photograph is just the beginning, how then to install it, where and with whom?

We shall explore historical examples of artists who circumnavigated the status quo to get their work seen, most specifically 19th-century painter Gustave Courbet who is considered the first Modern partially due to how he addressed these questions as an artist. We shall visit artist-run spaces in the New York City area and meet the people behind these, often, communal situations. We shall explore commercial and non-profit financing and the legalities that come with self-starter endeavors. How to help ourselves while helping our fellow artists? How to create art as well as a context, a scene, a platform? How, indeed, to make art function not only in the studio but in the world?

Small Figure Sculpture

This course will introduce students to the process of making figurative sculpture.

Design and anatomy secrets of the old masters will be shared with artists committed to mastering the human figure. This course takes on the formidable task of how to organize the complexity of the human body as a construction and create figurative art that makes a dramatic and bold statement.

It is a journey through the human form with particular attention directed to mass, volume, structure, and principles of anatomy.

Students will be guided to develop a personal project, in which their individual needs will be considered. Including demonstrations and discussion, this course is structured for beginners and artists with previous experience and aims to provide a base in the necessary techniques of sculpture.

Sculpture in Clay

Clay is the medium of choice for this class. It has been a part of the creative sculptural process in the arts for over 13,000 years, it is the soil of the earth. You will be introduced of the different types of clay its history and its application to Sculpture. You will be shown and gain experience using the various types of tools used in shaping an object from its plasticity to its final cast or kiln fired form.

The fundamentals of Sculpture, of creating a form in space, will be rigorously addressed and applied to a variety of choices including, but not limited to
the figure in the round, a fragment, torso, foot, hand, or creating the Bas Relief or a composition in the abstract. Lecture and critiques are included.
The class is structured towards the individual, therefore all levels and experience are welcomed. The more advanced artist is invited to create within a narrative of their choice.

Kiln firing fee, if applicable, is not included.
No tools are necessary for the first class

The beginning student will quickly gain comfort and a facility towards an ease of creating.

Sculpture: Portrait

In this course, you will learn how to do a realistic human head from start to finish, exploring the anatomy of the face in-depth, proportions, features, and expressions. You’ll learn the principles of building armatures and handling clay.

All work in clay from the life model.

All levels of experience are welcomed.