Children's books are simple. Anyone can create one, right? But looks are deceiving. Picture books are a uniquely challenging and potent art form, where both words and images work in tandem to create a story. For anyone eager to acquire or deepen the necessary skills--from inception of an idea to a working manuscript—Art of the Picture Book is an ideal opportunity. Award-winning author-illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh is the author of many titles, including Separate Is Never Equal, Pancho Rabbit and The Coyote, and The Princess and the Warrior. His latest book, Soldier For Equality, received an honorable mention for writing from the Pura Belpré Award earlier this year.
 
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Instructor: Duncan Tonatiuh
Cost: $900- $1200
Sponsor: Buxton School
Website, email, 413 884-2110

Travel to Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, USA, and take part in a 6-day art retreat where expert tutor Jan-Willem Boer will help guide you through several artistic mediums. Students from all over the world come to the retreat to learn oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel painting, as well as drawing, airbrush, drypoint, lino, mono printing, and mixed media. UpTrek Painting Retreat 2020: 5 nights of accommodation, individualized art lessons with expert art tutor Jan-Willem Boer, all meals for the duration of your stay (breakfast, lunch, dinner), sStudio equipment for all the classes (easels, drawing boards, light box, artograph)
 
Location: Lexington, Virginia
Instructor: Jan-Willem Boer
Cost: $1731
Sponsor: UpTrek
Website, email, +40757302302

Deli paper – we've all tried it! But you've probably never done the things with it that we will do in this class. Students will learn to shave pastels, and to add metallic powders and thin Asian papers to their collages. High-flow acrylic paint will be used to add abstract writing as well as Pollock-like drips and splashes. We will create a huge pile of collage papers! We will then choose our favorites and build an abstract collage suitable for framing. You'll learn a lot about acrylic paints and mediums in the process and go home with a lot of papers for future use!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline Sullivan
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

We will begin by making a few of our own papers through various processes such as rust printing and eco-dyeing, then combine our papers into final works. Encaustic and paper are an incredibly versatile match and, with the addition of pigment sticks and other materials, we will create works with an optical depth, luminosity, and a painterly quality. Basics of studio safety, substrate options, painting techniques, and archival work methods will be covered. All base mediums and paints as well as eco-dye supplies will be provided, but students will be encouraged to bring a variety of found papers and other materials to use. No prior experience with encaustic painting required, but general art-making experience is helpful.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sarah Rehmer
Cost: $700
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

This action packed class will expand your concept of collage. You will begin with a process I call Scribble to Structure. This is a mixed media process on paper that will loosen up your creative muscles. You will be working with pencils, paints, pastels and paper. You will learn some unusual ways to move the paint. Color combinations and composition skills will be explored. This is one of my favorite ways to begin a creative journey. On day two you expand your vocabulary with new materials for collage including fabrics and transparent papers you will create. You will learn how to make your collages look like Encaustic if you wish, and how to get crackles to stay on papers too.
 
Location: Palisade, Colorado
Instructor: Sandra Duran Wilson
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Rocky Mountain Collage Society
Website, email, 505-954-4179

I created my first Spirit Protectors during a particularly difficult time in my life and I can't seem to stop. I will teach you my favorite surface design techniques on metal. Next, I will share my favorite tips and tricks to achieve balance, contrast, and a powerful composition. You will learn simple cold connection techniques – no glue here. Finally we will put it all together to create two figurative assemblages attached to a wooden base.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Leighanna Light
Cost: $280
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Akasha is the Sanskrit word for spirit, but more directly, it means the basis and essence of all things in the material world. Spirit dolls are art objects that are easy to create from recycled materials. These spirit dolls were initially created as a way to work through grief and trauma. The ritualized deconstruction of the garments and repetitive wrapping works as both art technique and meditative process. The finished dolls become the embodiment of the spirit of memory and can be used as a vehicle to transfigure sadness. These dolls are easy to create with simple household materials. Some physical dexterity is needed for hand sewing and stitching.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Lorraine Reynolds
Cost: $150
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Create a unique painted art piece rich in texture, with deep layers of color, and sophisticated design. Tom will share some great ideas and techniques for using acrylic paints along with unusual textured compounds, a variety of papers, and some offbeat found objects. As a design teacher, Tom will share his composition principles, design ideas, and new ways to use your art materials to add heightened impact to your mixed media creations. Bring your own acrylic and watercolor paints and brushes along with any special handmade papers, photos, plant materials, and odds and ends you might like to incorporate in your art piece.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Tom Cabezas
Cost: $135
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Let's create a beautiful mixed media collage on the cover of our gorgeous, handmade journal and embellish with metal doo-dads, ribbon, and various collage paper and found items. We'll use one of my favorite mediums: Beeswax! Not only is it a yummy-smelling, awesome medium to work with, it's also great for creating translucent and opaque layers and adhering lightweight collage items to create a unique, textured look (both physically and visually)! The insides of our pages will be watercolor paper and we'll embellish them with lace, ribbons, trims, fabric, and more to create a book bursting with color, texture, and layers!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Nicole Austin
Cost: $160
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Some words are mighty though only three letters: sky, all, now, you. They call up imagery the second you hear them. In this class, we will transfer (or you can make your own) letterforms to small canvas, and add imagery that calls to us. The technique we will use is dry brush, and involves painting the negatives instead of the positives. It is a silhouetting of sorts, an illustration technique that is handy because it is a fast and easy way to work, and a good exercise in seeing shapes. Our palette will be limited, as will our vocabulary of images, so you can easily do this in one day.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jill Berry
Cost: $140
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Students in this class will do some simple metal etching on small squares of copper or brass. These completed metal pieces will then be embedded in a textural surface. Molding paste on cradled panel with stencils will be used to create the textured surface. This surface will be painted with the student's choice of colors. Color theory and composition will be discussed to help students create a beautiful and unusual art piece!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline Sullivan
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

I have a love of combining organic shapes/images (flowers, birds, leaves, etc) with abstract backgrounds. I even like to throw some geometrics and patterns in there for fun! I'll show you how to create abstract backgrounds and add organic images and geometric patterns to form something lovely and unique. We'll learn how to use all my favorite materials and techniques as we create, grow and just have a good time! You'll explore acrylic paint, texture paste, paint pens, stamps, stencils and more. We'll talk about what colors to use and how to create a pleasing composition.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Nicole Austin
Cost: $160
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Transform ordinary metal into a fabulous thick, chunky, beautifully embellished deck of cards! You will receive 10 flat pieces of metal, each 6” x 3”, to transform into beautiful works of art. We will explore a variety of ways to use and distress metal, cloth, paper, and found objects. And you will learn a plethora of new ideas and techniques!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Leighanna Light
Cost: $280
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

In this class we will use an antique porcelain doll to make a mermaid. It is embellished with vintage rhinestones and special wash painting techniques. A frame will be painted and embellished to hold our mermaid. Everything is supplied to make the mermaid and the frame including the rhinestones. You only need to bring items to embellish your frame (possible items include shells, plastic undersea animal toys, jewels).
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Deborah Petronio
Cost: $165
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Humans have been making maps for thousands of years: It is an urge some of us can't resist. Using collage, illustration, journaling, paint, paper, and other mixed media, we will create "maps" of our life experience that can record our journeys of the past, future, backyards, hopes, dreams, and mythological places. We will make varied maps and a book to contain them, and discuss the historical and contemporary treatments of maps and mapmaking. Making maps of your life leads to both wonderful art and self-discovery. We'll explore our journeys with color, curiosity, poetry, and permission to illustrate your own path in your own way.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jill Berry
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Create one-of-a-kind, hand-stitched cards that mix "old-timey" photos with whimsical verse. We will start by creating our own collage background papers using old paper, inks, paint, and mark making. Then we will learn how to assemble the mini-little portraits that are mounted onto 4" x 5" note cards. Use them to send an extra special message to someone you love or as a portable work of art. Materials fee includes everything needed to make 10 cards. You may bring additional paper, digital images or ephemera to use to personalize your work. Basic sewing machine knowledge is helpful but not required.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Lorraine Reynolds
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Acrylic molding paste can be used to make beautiful textures and designs. The unique book covers created by these processes are quite striking! In this class students will learn and experiment with several molding paste techniques including stenciling, stamping, and scraping. Book covers are created by painting the molding paste and mounting on another piece of book board to form a cover. These covers will then be bound using a long stitch binding with a leather spine. This class will be appropriate for beginner and intermediate book binders. Students will receive personalized instruction and critique throughout the workshop.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline Sullivan
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Let's create luscious, layered mixed media portraits but with a little twist. We'll combine floral still life with portraiture with various mixed media materials, tools, and techniques. I'll show you how I like to create a layered portrait full of life and texture. We'll start by creating our own mixed media collage papers and build up each layer step by step. Then we'll build up the background using acrylic paint, oil pastels, spray inks, oil paint sticks, and more. No drawing experience necessary. This class is also great for more advanced students looking to try a new style and get out of their comfort zone. I like to finger paint as well, so prepare to get a little bit messy!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Nicole Austin
Cost: $160
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

The symbolism linked to birds goes back to the ancient world, where birds were considered to be a supernatural connection between the gods and men. In many Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, birds can represent immortality. In East Indian and Christian mythologies, birds represent the soul. These soul houses are a safe haven for your hopes and dreams. This class will introduce you to the art of assemblage as you learn to construct basic house forms that have relevance and meaning in your own world. You will learn the basics of assemblage construction as well as plot a creative journey through storytelling, personal myth, and metaphor. You will take away powerful new ideas about process and art making.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Lorraine Reynolds
Cost: $150
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

We will discuss the various tools and materials used in this popular medium. There will be morning and afternoon demonstrations. Students are encouraged to to have several projects started on the first day, so they can dry a little overnight for work the second day. We will experiment with texture. Students can start with acrylics, if they wish, and build up with oil and cold wax, or they can start and continue with oil and cold wax. Oil/cold wax is an exciting medium with many possibilities. My goal is for students to explore and learn to develop their own techniques.
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Mary Montague Sikes
Cost: $207 for Members, $230 for Non-members
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

In this class we’ll focus on figurative painting from a live model and photos. We’ll explore techniques for creating colorful, abstract patterns with a sense of movement and energy by first making a quick underpainting in acrylic, then painting into it with oil paint. For photo reference, I encourage using images with energy and motion in them, i.e. athletes, boxers, dancers, etc. Large brushes and a plastic scraper will be used to apply paint generously and to also scrape away to reveal the underlying acrylic underpainting. I’ll also be talking about edges and how blurring the line between main subject and background helps in creating an abstract pattern of forms, color and dynamism.
 
Location: Franklin, Tennessee
Instructor: David Shevlino, www.davidshevlino.com
Cost: $475
Sponsor: On Track Studios
Website, email

Paint abstract pieces adventurously and intuitively in this three-day workshop! We'll work on oil paper and wood panels to create with joy and abandon. I'll show you all the basics as well as many of my favorite techniques. You'll explore the layering process to create richly colored and textured pieces. You'll also create quick and daring works on paper. We'll use a variety of tools to experiment with texture and layers. We'll cover preparing your panels, including with Venetian plaster for added texture. You'll learn ways to present your pieces and will leave with some finished pieces and with work in progress. Whether you're new to the medium or experienced, you'll find something in this workshop to inspire you.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Serena Barton
Cost: $430
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Travel to Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, USA, and take part in a 6-day art retreat where expert tutor Jan-Willem Boer will help guide you through several artistic mediums. Students from all over the world come to the retreat to learn oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel painting, as well as drawing, airbrush, drypoint, lino, mono printing, and mixed media. UpTrek Painting Retreat 2020: 5 nights of accommodation, individualized art lessons with expert art tutor Jan-Willem Boer, all meals for the duration of your stay (breakfast, lunch, dinner), sStudio equipment for all the classes (easels, drawing boards, light box, artograph).
 
Location: Lexington, Virginia
Instructor: Jan-Willem Boer
Cost: $1731
Sponsor: UpTrek
Website, email, +40757302302

Gather to create a book that is dedicated to the birds, insects, and the winged creatures that we all love. We will begin with texturing our pages, using gesso and modeling paste. Then we will scratch and scrape and mark our surfaces in unique ways. Next, we will add color and collage to our pages, using all my favorite techniques and my nature-based stencil designs, and make our own stamps. Lastly, we will add our focal points and details that will make our pages sing, including hand stitching and some more detailed mark making. We will use a very simple technique to bind our pages into a single artist book that tells your own unique story.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Roxanne Evans Stout
Cost: $440
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Students will explore surface techniques building their own collage palette that will stretch new awareness and growth. Everyone will be working with harmony, values, differences, and the relationships of design elements, each pulling from their own feelings, experiences of inter-connectedness to mind, body, spirit. Emphasis will be on working in a series. As we get older, we grow self-conscious and judgmental, believing that art is not good unless it's realistically recognizable. Collage, design, and mixed media offer up a playful experimental atmosphere that is safe for all to find a deeper meaning to the art-making process. Students' collage works will emerge and evolve on watercolor paper and wood panel, fused with heat and tack-iron method.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Laura Lein-Svencner
Cost: $500
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

This 3 1/2 day workshop introduces mediums including Galkyd, Galkyd Gel, and Cold Wax. The workshop blends demos with guided exercises and personal experimentation and exploration. You will gain hands-on experience using new techniques, materials, and tools. Demos will include work on paper, wood panel, and stretched linen. Individual and group discussions focus on composition, seeing and reacting, abstracted and simplified shapes, using unique and unconventional color, and unique and unconventional mark-making. Group and individual critiques offer an opportunity to share ideas and learn from others. Painting the landscape in abstract allows for individual and unique interpretation of what you see in a scene. Through distilling and simplifying the elements, your paintings become a translation of your experience.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Mark Russell
Cost: $435
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Discover the pure joy of painting intuitive abstract painting with Golden Fluid Acrylics plus watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons. Letting go and realizing that there are no rules depends entirely on understanding design and color theory, so these will be thoroughly explained and illustrated. Then the fun begins! Lots of intuitive painting time will help you in finding your direction and what it takes to pull an abstract painting together.
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Steve Rogers, watercolorsbyrogers.com
Cost: $225 for Members | $255 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

Over the course of three intensive days, we will delve into the meanings found objects bring to assemblages. We will discuss the process of collection and the power of the souvenir as we go out in the field to scout out fantastic objects to use in our work at thrift stores, flea markets, and antique shops. In the classroom we will cover basic assemblage techniques and students will build box assemblages from objects they bring to the classroom and/or unearth in the field. Attendees will work on finding their own voice in art making and what drives the sculptures they create. Some basic experience in creating assemblages is helpful, but not required.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Lorraine Reynolds
Cost: $430
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Spend 4-1/2 fun-filled days with internationally known artist LorriMarie Jenkins, learning mixed media techniques. Transform an old book into an amazing 3-D art piece. Explore layering, adding secret doors, pockets, windows, and learn collage building tips. LorriMarie encourages you to leave “perfection” at the door and to be playful during this ArtFull event. No prior “art” experience needed! Show up with your book and your favorite images…then enjoy the journey of the Altered Book Workshop.
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: LorriMarie Jenkins, lorrimariejenkins.com
Cost: $575 for Members | $635 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

In this three-day workshop students will do exercises that will help them to make their own unique marks as a surprise element for their work. Journey with Teresa and explore the beauty of the mark and then to build upon that markmaking process taking that work to a whole new level. Students will play with these ideas along with the possibilities that will open up as they work transparently and with opaque paint. Anything goes: landscapes, still life, figurative work or abstract, this workshop will engage intuitive creativity. Demos, group discussion and constructive critiques are a part of this workshop. This workshop is for acrylic based and watercolor based artists.
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Teresa Kirk, www.teresakirk.com
Cost: $390 for Members | $430 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

Burridge’s popular “Loosen Up” workshops nurture individual success and personal enrichment with a big emphasis on daily painting projects at your own pace. It is stress-free, but be warned; you could end up with too much enthusiasm for painting. This Burridge flagship workshop offers a variety of painting subjects for everyone. Designed for the professional painter who is stuck in a style as well as for the novice who wants to conquer their fear of painting. Starting each day with multiple, small “warm-up painting exercises” and up to larger-format paintings, Burridge’s positive approach towards the act of painting will inspire you to loosen up, have fun again and paint more! Expect an intense, concentrated and lively workshop.
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Robert Burridge, robertburridge.com
Cost: $450 for Members | $490 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

Creative tearing and paint splashing starts off this all new “Loosen Up Workshop.” Also, you will learn how to begin a new fresh body of work with your own artistic voice and point of view. Think “artist retreat,” producing a body of work, a series of paintings or your conceptual solo show. Robert Burridge, along with his famous daily handouts, demos and lectures, helps and guides you to paint the way you have always wanted to paint. Daily, you can expect warmup paint sketching, brief painting and lecture demos, constructive critiques and plenty of time to work on personal projects. Come prepared to paint!
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Robert Burridge, robertburridge.com
Cost: $560 for Members | $640 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

This is a workshop for the experienced acrylic painter as well as the beginner! Squirting fluid acrylics onto a surface and spreading it with a credit card produces beautiful streaks of color! Karen has experimented with this so much that she has many no fail color formulas to get you off to a great start. Subjects are students' choice, but Karen will be demonstrating contemporary figures and animals. Students will get to doodle to their heart’s content in this workshop. Good design will be emphasized and lots of tricks to make the detail work easier. Students will have no trouble with the drawing, etc. because Karen has some easy tips. We will also be working with several different types of metallic special effects and will be studying Gustav Klimt’s as well as Van Gogh’s paintings!
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
Instructor: Karen Knutson, www.karenknutson.com
Cost: $325 for Members | $365 for Non-Members
Sponsor: Art Center Sarasota
Website, email, 941-365-2032

Come discover your own unique artistic voice with Joan Fullerton. Learn how to coax hints of reality from an abstract background, how to control values and colors for emotional emphasis, and how to suggest rather than delineate. Come explore working intuitively, responding to what shows up, working in a series, and utilizing neutrals for more ethereal abstracts! Unconventional methods of instruction will open new avenues of creativity and encourage genuine expression. Join us for inspiring demonstrations, lectures, encouragement and practice. Joan's work has been in galleries, juried shows and museums since the early 70’s.
 
Location: Bend, Oregon
Instructor: Joan Fullerton
Cost: $795
Sponsor: Art in the Mountains
Website, email, 503-930-4572