Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax: August 2019

What a wild week. Twelve women artists came together to take my Abstracted Play in Oil and Cold Wax workshop at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. Some had taken my class previously, a few had learned from other instructors, and quite a few had never worked with oil paint or cold wax, and one was new to painting. There was some gnashing of teeth, lots of laughter, a little whining, a smidgeon of frustration, and in the end, happiness with their success and the beauty of their pieces.

I did demos every morning and afternoon . . .

The women then worked on their own pieces, working in multiples so they had lots of pieces to work on at various stages of the process.

One thing I loved seeing was the camaraderie of how the women supported each other and worked together.

I gave my Artist Talk on Saturday after lunch (they all showed up for my talk, although this photo makes it look like no one did!).

On our last day, we worked in the morning and then in the afternoon cleaned up our supplies, spread out our body of work, and did a walkabout, sharing the highlights of the week.

Here is an assortment of the work created during the week, in no particular order, some on boards, some on Arches Oil Paper, some large and some small:

It was a really fun week.

PS This was the second time I got to teach at Sitka this summer. In June, there was an opening and I was able to slip in a bonus version of this workshop, which I blogged about earlier.

I’m Teaching! Four Days of Oil and Cold Wax

Lisa Pressman Class (36)

If you’ve ever been interested in working in oil and cold wax, I have a great opportunity to immerse yourself for four consecutive days of art making in a beautiful new space. I will be teaching my Abstracted Play class at the Salem Art Association’s newly revamped and remodeled Art Annex on October 6-9, from 9:30-4:30. There will be plenty of time to dive in, learn new techniques, experiment, be inspired, inspire each other, work hard, and, of course, play. But first, this is the bright, airy, new space, located in the heart of Bush Park, where we will be meeting. And my class is the very first to be offered!

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This class is for everyone. If you have previously worked with oil and cold wax, this class will help take you to the next level, but it also works well for beginners with no experience at all. Oil paint mixed with cold wax is a versatile medium that creates rich luminosity and interesting surfaces. We’ll experiment with laying down paint, adding texture, scraping paint away, and then doing it all over again. And maybe yet again.

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During the four days, we will work on multiple pieces, working intuitively and abstractly, exploring texture, layers, composition, design elements, and use of color through oil paint and pigment sticks. We will explore making marks using graphite pencils, twigs and awls, solvents to remove paint and leave marks, and oil pigment sticks. We will be working on wood substrates as well as Arches oil paper.

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Oil paint mixed with cold wax allows the layers to dry quickly (and without much odor), and clean up is done with mineral or baby oil, so our use of solvents is very limited (or even unnecessary).

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The cost for the four full days of class is $350 with a $20 supply fee. I provide some materials and share all of my paints and pigment sticks. To register, just go to the Salem Art Association website using this link.

Abstracted Play: Three days of oil and cold wax

Class June 2016 (1)

The paint was flying last week when I hosted a three day oil and cold wax workshop called Abstracted Play. The class was held in the classroom at The Art Studios at Mission Mill, so I kept the number of students to five to maximize space. But we had a kitchen, an espresso machine, lots of snacks, and a lovely art lounge to hang out in, so we made do.

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The class consisted of demos, work time, one-on-one assistance, more demos, feedback and support. Photos tell the story better than anything I could say.

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The artists created some lovely work during the three days. Here is a sampling.

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Such a fun, hard-working group of women. They assured me they cycled all the way from number 1 to finally landing at number 6. Whew, but it was touch and go for a while.

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Class June 2016 (34)

 

Abstracted Play: Creating With Plaster, Oil, and Cold Wax

Class (27)I’m just home from teaching a three-day workshop in Portland at Stacey Mattraw’s imaginative, magical studio, Arcangelo Productions, in North Portland.

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Class (46)Our three-day workshop actually started on Thursday evening when Stacey hosted a get together so everyone could meet and get their painting supplies set up.

Class (48)Friday morning, we began our three-day marathon. We spent most of Friday preparing our boards, adding paint, plaster, and more paint, so that when we started to layer oil and cold wax, we would already have a nice layer of texture to respond to.

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By the end of the first day we were already applying layers of oil and cold wax.

Class (30)On Day Two it was oil and cold wax ALL DAY LONG.

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Of course, breaks were taken.

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On Day Three we gave each other feedback on some of the art in progress, painted, then ended the day with a walkabout.

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Show and Tell (2)

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And then we collapsed!

Class (5)It was a great group of artists, so full of enthusiasm, energy, and talent — and they all worked so hard. Most of the ladies had traveled quite a distance to attend: Bellingham, the San Juan Islands, Alaska, California,  as well as Portland and Silverton.

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A sampling of their beautiful work . . . .

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Curious About Oil and Cold Wax?

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I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching my Plaster, Oil, and Cold Wax: Abstracted Play class in August. It will be held at the wonderful studio of Stacey Mattraw, Arcangelo Productions, located in a hip, diverse, funky area of North Portland.

Stacey Mattraw Studio

The class will be held Friday-Sunday, August 14-16, 10 am-5 pm every day.

Painted boards

Plaster

The first day we’ll be painting our boards and applying plaster and by Friday afternoon we’ll be learning oil and cold wax techniques (I provide you with a pre plastered board so we don’t waste a minute of our precious time.)

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On Saturday morning, we’ll sand our plastered boards.

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Sanding

And quickly seal them with acrylic paint.

Staining plastered boards

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By Saturday afternoon, we’ll be applying layers and layers of luminous, buttery, oil and cold wax.

OCW Process

I’ll be sharing lots of techniques throughout the weekend on how to add interesting texture, add text, scrape back, and so much more.

OCW Process 2As an added special bonus, on Thursday evening, 5-6:30 pm, we’ll meet at Arcangelo Productions for a pre-workshop gathering hosted by Stacey. We’ll have snacks and drinks and get to know each other in advance of the class beginning on Friday morning. We have also scheduled a field trip to Collage, a delightful, and full-to-the-brim art supply store on NE Alberta, where Maria is offering a 10% discount on all purchases.

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The cost of the three-day class (with some supplies included) is $375. A $100 deposit holds your space, with the balance due on July 14, 2015. If you are interested, please contact me: dayna@alleyartstudio.com and I’ll e-mail detailed information about what supplies are included, what you need to bring, and my refund policy. Also, if you’re coming from out of town, I can send you information on places to stay in the surrounding area.

Everything Drifted Into Stillness

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The maximum number of students will be 12 and five spaces are available as of this posting.

Me teaching the Abstracted Play class in Gig Harbor, WA
Me teaching the Abstracted Play class in Gig Harbor, WA

 

If you’d like to see photos from previous classes, here are two links. Number one and number two.

And I’ll leave you with a few more samples of my plaster, oil, and cold wax pieces.

Transparent Excuse

"The Journey Home: The Ease of Slumber"  Venetian plaster, oil, cold wax
“The Journey Home: The Ease of Slumber”
Venetian plaster, oil, cold wax
"Insatiably Curious" 16x16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
“Insatiably Curious”
16×16, plaster, oil, and cold wax
Visual Language
Visual Language

Abstracted Play: Three Day Workshop

IMG_1251I’ve just spent the past three days guiding six beautiful women through the process of using plaster, oil, and cold wax. This was the first workshop held at The Art Studios at Mission Mill and it was a huge success. We went from this:

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to this:

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The women bonded instantly on Friday and by the end of Sunday, my sides were sore from laughing so much.

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Friday afternoon we painted our boards and applied plaster.

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Then on Saturday morning the ladies sanded and stained.

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Before lunch on Saturday, I had the women applying initial layers of oil and cold wax.

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And by the end of Saturday, the hall was filled with drying art.

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Sunday morning, we were back at it.

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We had snacks available all the time . . . .

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. . . and on Sunday, Howard delivered a salad bar lunch to us.

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Before we knew it, it was time to clean up and prepare for show and tell.

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Here is a sampling of the incredible work the women created. A sampling, I tell you!

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It was an energizing, exciting, creative three days.

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Abstracted Play: On the Road

Show and Tell 2

I was invited by Kristina Trudell, a Washington artist I had met in a previous workshop, if I would be willing to teach my plaster/oil/cold wax class, Abstracted Play, either in Salem, Portland, or Washington. Since I have a daughter in Tacoma, I decided to make it a road trip. Of course, if I’m on an art road trip, it usually involves Tory Brokenshire.  I invited Tory to join me, and she did the driving; we picked up two artists along the way and made the trip north last Friday afternoon.

Tory surprised each of us with a goody bag for the drive north.
Tory surprised each of us with a goody bag for the drive north.

The class was held at the home of Kathie Vezzani, who lives in Gig Harbor.  Oh my. She prepared a wonderful space for the workshop and provided several gourmet meals. (Side note: Kathie arranges art trips around the world, so check out her blog and get on her mailing list for information on her upcoming trips.)

Bridge to Gig HarborFriday night we prepared our boards with paint and plaster.

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IMG_0231By morning, the plaster was dry and ready for sanding and more paint.

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Before noon on Saturday, we were laying down layers of oil and cold wax.

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The food Kathie prepared was delicious, and the weather was perfect.

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Then back to it.

Irena WorkingIMG_0273IMG_0274Saturday night we took a little road trip to the Key Peninsula for dinner at Leslie’s house. It was a magical and dream-like evening.

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Francie Dayna Tory

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Saturday night dinner

Saturday night evening

Sunday was our final day. A time to work on our pieces, resolve problems, start over, scrape back, scritch, scratch, and finally, lay out our pieces for show and tell.

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Oil and Cold Wax 2

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Oil and Cold Wax 1

Doug and Leslie

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What a great weekend. And this was our view on the drive home Sunday evening.

Sunset on way home