Explore the expressive potential of collage for producing both aesthetic imagery and philosophical statements. Experiment with a variety of materials including drawing and painting media, paper, cardboard, fabric, metal, photographs, and found objects; and combine them using assorted fastening techniques such as gluing, nailing/screwing, or sewing. Stimulate your creativity by responding to assigned problems and prompts, and critically examine the resulting compositions as well as the implied ideas. Realize the tentative or "trial and error" nature of the collage process as a means to discover and learn, and ultimately affirm, your unique and individual aesthetic assertions.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Discover the mediums and techniques of master artists such as Van Gogh, Okeefe, and more. This is a fun introduction to the wonderful world of art for the naturally curious and creative young artist. A variety of mixed media may be used including watercolor & acrylic paint.
 
Location: Jupiter, Florida
Instructor: Jacalyn Gmoch
Cost: Half Days $175 per Week, Full Days $350 per Week
Sponsor: The New Studio For The Visual Arts
Website, email, 561-295-5712

Grab your binoculars, your sketch books as we study nature & venture deep into the wild. Discover the unique & colorful world of bugs, flowers, plants, & wild animals. A variety of mixed media may be used including paper making, printmaking & acrylic paint.
 
Location: Jupiter, Florida
Instructor: Jacalyn Gmoch
Cost: Half Days $175 per Week, Full Days $350 per Week
Sponsor: The New Studio For The Visual Arts
Website, email, 561-295-5712

This workshop is for the artist who loves the unexpected alchemy that can happen when a little time and some heat are applied to plants, flowers, and papers to make a unique eco-dyed print. We will explore the use of various prep methods for printing, as well modifiers to change the colors of our final prints. Rust printing will be explored and even combined with our botanical prints to create an additional level of colors, textures, and details to a print. Students will come away from the workshop with a treasure trove of papers that can be used in collage, book making, or even stand on their own as a beautiful finished botanical print.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sarah Rehmer
Cost: $330
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Join 25+ year professional educator Debi West for this exciting half-day workshop! All levels of students will enjoy this workshop where participants will learn the art of collage, which you will love! Debi will help students create a collage by focusing on composition, color, value, lines, shape and negative space! You do not want to miss this awesome class!
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Debi West
Cost: $50
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Join us on a journey hopping from continent to continent learning about different cultures of the world through creative eyes. We will explore a variety of artistic traditions and explore multiple cultures. A variety of mixed media may be used including modeling clay, watercolor & acrylic paint.
 
Location: Jupiter, Florida
Instructor: Jacalyn Gmoch
Cost: Half Days $175 per Week, Full Days $350 per Week
Sponsor: The New Studio For The Visual Arts
Website, email, 561-295-5712

Designed for students new to the encaustic medium, this 2-day workshop provides a hands-on introduction to the materials, working methods, and safety fundamentals for working in encaustic. Students will leave the workshop with a solid technical foundation and the confidence to continue exploring encaustic beyond the workshop. Sarah approaches her teaching by alternating between demonstrations and working time so students can see and discuss a process, and then immediately give it a try. We will explore basic painting techniques, color mixing, and surface refinement. If you have current pieces made in another medium, please bring for a discussion on how to translate or enhance the work with encaustic paints. Paints, tools, and brushes are supplied.
 
Location: Birmingham, Michigan
Instructor: Sarah Rehmer
Cost: $348 Members, $388 Guests, $50 Materials Fee
Sponsor: Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center
Website, email, 248.644.0866

This workshop is designed for both painters and photographers interested in gaining new skills and pushing the boundaries of their studio practice through the combination of encaustic and photography. Explore a range of subject matter and create richly layered and textured images that will push the viewer to question if they are looking at the photo, a painting, or both! Demonstrations introduce you to the basics of encaustic painting and digital printing, while ample working time and one-on-one conversations with Sarah provide hands-on practice and time to discuss thematic and aesthetic concepts. All paints, tools, and some printing is included with the supply fee.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sarah Rehmer
Cost: $595
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Learn how to infuse emotional impact into abstract portraits by controlling balance, color, and line during this mixed media workshop. You will explore layering intuitively with Christina, using an assortment of techniques such as collage, ink, mark-making, illustration and simple stitching to imbue flow and depth into your paintings. You will learn to be guided by your internal compass and let your creative juices flow.
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
Instructor: Christine Romeo
Cost: $275 (OSA Members) / $335 (Non-Members)
Sponsor: Oregon Society of Artists
Website, email, (503) 228-0706

Raku is a Japanese form of pottery that often results in a coppery metallic finish with blue, green, and purple highlights. In this class, Jacqueline will use her experience as a Golden Artist Educator to guide you in working with aluminum foil and other metallic media to form these glistening little paintings that are like jewels that resemble the colors of the ancient art of Raku and its colorful metallic finish.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline Sullivan
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

With the intention of focusing on gratitude, I spent a good part of 2020 creating special handmade books to honor the places, people, and memories that have been a such an important part of my life. I would love to teach you how to create this lovely keepsake, a substantial canvas book, using a theme close to your heart. I will teach you how to create stunning metal transfers and how to connect them to pages without glue. You’ll learn simple bookbinding skills while creating a book out of painted and collaged canvas. I will also share with you my favorite collage and surface design techniques. Please bring your materials fee in cash to class.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Leighanna Light
Cost: $280
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

If you love to collage or are even entirely new to it, this welcoming class will enhance your creativity by allowing you to add depth and texture to your colorful designs. Working within cradled panels, we will collage and paint the background, adding embossed ceramic elements to our compositions to create our own unique works. The ceramic tiles, of varied sizes and shapes, have already been fired, allowing you to stain, paint, or antique them as you like to enhance the depth of your creation. Materials fee includes a cradled board and a generous assortment of unique ceramic pieces.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Gail Willert
Cost: $145
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

In this class we will create a family keepsake in the style of a religious reliquary. Reliquaries are small, shrine-like, sometimes highly decorated receptacles for a relic of a saint. The relic is sealed with a wax seal and that seal should never be broken. In our case, we will create a family tree inside the reliquary and then seal a memento or even a prayer on the back. We will create a holder or monstrance to display our reliquary. Using found objects, textiles, and your mementoes, you can create a family treasure.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Deborah Petronio
Cost: $165
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

The best thing about working with acrylic paint is the versatility of the medium. Jacqueline is a certified teacher for Golden Paints and will use her experience to guide you in exploring making various textures to be used in their painting practice. We’ll work with textural elements like tissue and cheesecloth and other household items. You’ll learn about acrylic pastes and mediums as they build their textured painting. The result will be richly textured surfaces and very interesting abstract paintings. You’ll develop an understanding of how to make many different acrylic mediums work better for you in your art work. Using the principles of design in creating an abstract painting is an integral part of the class.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline Sullivan
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Image transfers are one of the best ways to add photos to your work. Transfers create luscious, transparent layers that can be painted over and altered with different acrylic media, adding stunning dimensions to the page. In reverse, transfers can be applied over textured surfaces, adding more depth. Both inkjet and Xerox transfer techniques will be taught. Explore new and unusual techniques using joint compound, crackle paste, gesso, and molding paste to create irresistible textures and raised areas. This will be so much fun that you won’t want to stop adding layers and textures!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Roann Mathias
Cost: $155
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

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. You will learn a plethora of new ideas and techniques and leave with a unique, beautifully embellished art deck that can be bound by decorative wire or transformed into a book or sculpture. Materials fee includes 10 pieces of pre-cut metal, wire, images, sandpaper, a nice package of ephemera, and use of instructor’s tools, stamps, paints, paper, and consumables. Please bring your fee in cash to class.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Leighanna Light
Cost: $280
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Come and explore a new medium! In this class, you will learn about building multiple layers with cold wax and oil paints. The wax and paint will be brushed, smeared, and spread into a pleasing composition of layered, translucent color. Once the layers are built, you can work back into them, making marks and patterns. When layering paint, understanding color theory is very important, particularly with translucent paint. You will spend some time mixing colors and see how far you can “push” the paint colors that are provided. The end result of this time spent emerged in wax and paint will be several abstract paintings.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline Sullivan
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Explore the endless possibilities of collage. Create a collage by applying a variety of approaches to materials that have meaning to you such as photographs, fabric scraps, letters, drawings, and decorative papers. Rita will also demonstrate some mixed media techniques that are compatible with collage. Artists of all skill levels are welcome. Materials fee includes handouts, some adhesives and mediums to try, and the prepared board on which you will mount your collage. Rita will bring birch wood panels that students can choose from, ranging in size from 7” x 7” to 13” x 13”. Please see the supply list for additional tools and materials to bring.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Rita Yanny
Cost: $155
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

The saying goes, “If the shoe fits, wear it.” If it doesn’t fit … well … I say, make art with it. Shoes are very intimate accessories that are so close to us every day, yet are generally taken for granted. They separate us from the ground. They protect us from the elements. They are a part of our daily lives. If they could talk, they would have rich histories to tell. The shoe, then, is our starting point to create visual stories. Their deep recesses have the potential to hold so much meaning and inspiration. This class is an introduction to the art of assemblage, using everyday discarded and recycled objects to create a shrine assemblage.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Lorraine Reynolds
Cost: $150
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Stones talk to me. While beach combing, walking, hiking, I cannot pass up a good-looking stone! If you loves stones and fill your pockets like me, this class is for you! You'll learn a few simple knots to wrap stones with leather cord. The first knot will bind a twig or bamboo stick around a stone. The second stone will be wrapped using a Japanese knot technique. You will learn how to add trinkets and feathers and stone rings to enhance your designs. There will be time in the class to experiment with assorted sized stones and other Japanese-inspired knots to make each creation truly your own. Bring your own favorite stones, or select from a variety of stones provided.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Marianne Biagi
Cost: $85
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Create your own decorated papers and then turn them into a hand-bound book. The interior pages of the book will be created with sumi ink and white gouache. The spine will be stitched with beads. Once the book is bound, fun begins as each page becomes a canvas full of creative techniques including embossing, folding, cutting windows, adding tags and embellishments, and collage.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Roann Mathias
Cost: $150
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

I’m blown away by Harold Fisk’s 1944 folio of illustrations that document changes to the course of the Mississippi River over thousands of years. Come explore Fisk’s techniques that express space and time in a single image. We’ll start by selecting pages from vintage sources – encyclopedias, sheet music, ledgers, and maps! Reference the twists and turns of today’s Mississippi and create your own river on one sheet by drawing and cutting it out. Then, start imagining where that river flowed before. We’ll be painting with only four colors of watercolor and/or gouache, and drawing with Micron pens and graphite pencils. When your painted page is complete, you’ll glue your river on top for a unique mixed media piece.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Carole Spelic
Cost: $152
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Cold wax is an "alternative" to encaustic painting. If you love encaustic, but are afraid of fusing, heat, fumes, etc.... then this workshop is for you! Linda Benton McCloskey has designed this workshop for the beginner to the more advanced artist. Students will learn everything about using this luscious medium, including harmonious color mixing and all the many techniques of painting with cold wax. We will touch on the use of abstract composition and also, impressionistic landscapes/seascapes. No matter what your artistic experience is, you will learn! Expect lots of demonstrations and personal instruction!
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Linda Benton McCloskey
Cost: $400
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738

Gary will be teaching the history of assemblage, the basics of assemblage construction, and some focus points to keep your project on track. Have you ever wanted to do assemblage but feel like you do not have enough stuff? That has never been a problem for Gary, so he is offering an assemblage workshop where everything you will need is going to be provided. Gary hopes you will walk into this workshop with nothing and allow the materials he provides to inspire you. Throughout the class there will be time built in to share ideas, review our work, and learn from fellow participants.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Gary Warren Niebuhr
Cost: $360
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

Learn techniques to create a fresh, direct response to your subjects. There will be painting demonstrations and lots of class time for students to work from a live figure and portrait model. The class will work on a different painting/pose each day and learn to simplify and interpret the figure/portrait as a series of basic shapes and planes described by light and shadow. In addition to discussing technical concepts like value, color, paint application and basic proportions of the head and figure, we’ll also talk about some of the psychological aspects of learning to paint, such as giving ourselves permission to experiment and make mistakes so that we can learn and discover ways to become better, more creative artists.
 
Location: Franklin, Tennessee
Instructor: David Shevlino, www.davidshevlino.com
Cost: $475 includes model fees
Sponsor: On Track Studios
Website, email

When I discovered oil and cold wax painting five years ago, I was instantly hooked! I’m here to make your learning a little less intimidating by sharing with you everything I know about this genre, so that you can grow as an artist no matter what your experience. We will discover how to use cold wax with oil paint by creating abstract samplers and full-sized paintings on wood and paper. We’ll cover preparing surfaces, favorite techniques, layering, revealing, concealing, shifting, editing and working with colors. Trying something new can be scary, but it can also be an investment. Aren’t you worth it? If growth as an artist is a priority, let’s take the mystery out of this medium together!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jodi Ohl
Cost: $430
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

This workshop is designed for students who enjoy seeing how far they can push materials. The versatile materials of encaustic medium and paints act as glue in collage and assemblage, but with the added characteristics of transparency, texture, and layering capabilities when applied to paper. Dive deep into the exploration of working with encaustic paints, pigment sticks, collage applications, and other forms of mixed media. Experience: Begin by creating a few of your own papers with rust and inks to use alongside vintage, found, and other handmade and decorative papers. Demonstrations introduce you to the basics of setting up your workspace and using the equipment safely, encaustic painting, and various techniques for applying paper to other surfaces.
 
Location: Fish Creek, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sarah Rehmer
Cost: Members: $510 | Non-Members: $550
Sponsor: Peninsula School of Art
Website, email, 920.868.3455

Stan Kurth will be one of 3 instructors at Alabama Art Colony taking place at Children's Harbor on Lake Martin, Alabama. Children's Harbor on Lake Martin provides a serene and inspiring environment for the four and a half day workshop. Stan's class is designed to help students paint intuitively using their preferred substrates, mediums and painting tools. This process will work with all mediums. There will be no preliminary planning. Process will dictate direction as students use their choice of mediums, substrates and mark-making tools to intuitively implement elements and principles of design. Instruction starts with random marks to create a library of design elements. As the painting progresses there will be a shift with more emphasis on composition.
 
Location: Alexander City, Alabama
Instructor: Stan Kurth
Cost: $750 Semi-Private Room, $850 Private Room
Sponsor: Alabama Art Colony
Website, email, 334-546-2233

In this five-day creative exploration, Kate will teach you techniques to build her captivating sculptural figures using polymer clay, cloth, and wire construction. The class will delve into the idea of metamorphosis, transformation, and magic. Students will be free to design and create an individual metamorphosis figure using personal symbols and meaning. Starting with a drawing or image, you will design and make a fabric pattern, then use wire to build the internal form that will animate your piece. You can use paint, found objects, fabrics, or collage to embellish your work of art. Kate will also have designs and patterns available. Get ready for an extraordinary, fun, and inspiring adventure. Open to all levels.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Kate Church
Cost: $700
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, 608-987-3292

This workshop will explore ways to further alter our photographic images through a series of markings and underpainting combined with monochromatic imagery. We will focus on incorporating embedded photo prints on thin papers such as tissue and Japanese papers, as well as image transfers to create final work that is both ethereal and richly detailed in its layers. We will start off utilizing various methods of underdrawings to bring in pattern and additional detail to our work – with wood burning tools, inks, oil paints, and encaustic. Students must have a working knowledge of encaustic, as this is an intermediate level class and basics will not be covered. See website for full details.
 
Location: La Grange, Illinois
Instructor: Sarah Rehmer
Cost: $450 M / $480 NM
Sponsor: La Grange Art League
Website, email, 708-352-3101

On two 10x10 canvases, we will create Honey Bees and flowers. For this class, you can choose your own colors for the background and for the flowers to add some individuality! Explore the exciting things you can use to make your painting special! We will be using torn papers, napkins, stencils, glue, paint, pastels, lace, glitter and a variety of other fun materials. By layering the papers, fabrics, paint and stencils, you'll create an amazing 3-dimensional piece of art! No experience is necessary in this class! All materials will be provided for you by the instructor, just bring yourself!
 
Location: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Instructor: Julie Schroeder
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Art League of Hilton Head
Website, email, (843) 842-5738