Workshops
At the present time there are no new workshops on the schedule. Please check back occasionally to see what new workshops have been added.
2008 Completed Workshops
“NEW DIGITAL FRONTIER FOR THE ARTIST with Jeff Eichen”; March 1-2 from 10 AM to 4 PM at the Northwind Art Center. Cost: $130 (Volunteers $100)
Artists will explore the digital world now available through Adobe’s Photoshop. Jeff Eichen will touch upon all aspects of the digital work flow for artists including camera inter-phase, image manipulation, and final product. He has an impressive knowledge of the history of photography and its applications for artists and photographers. His workshop is suitable for both beginning and intermediate students.
In the first part of the program he talked about artists manipulating their work into prints, and photographers making their photos better, or reaching the level of art. In the last part of the program, he will introduce the nuts and bolts of using Photoshop. Students will learn to bring the digital image from the camera to the computer, open it using Adobe Photoshop, process the digital still life, prepare and print a high quality Giclee’. Each student will take home a print. Students are to bring a camera, or digital file, tripod (if you have one), and an item to be used for the still life.
Jeff has studied photography with masters, Ansel Adams, Brett Weston,and Bernard Freemesser. A fortuitous meeting with Byron Pinigar of Hadlock, WA. moved him to the Netherlands as Pinigars’ teaching assistant. Later, Eichen worked professionally as an architectural photographer in L.A and has had annual one man shows of his work. 2006 found Jeff attending an Adobe Photoshop Master class with renowned Photoshop guru Ben Wilmore. He now lives in Port Townsend where he continues to teach and create his art. He is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. To learn more about this computer software workshop, please contact Judy Courtwright at 360-379-4037 or judy@judycourtwright.com.
“MUD PIES FOR ADULTS” (on fabric and paper) with Anita Mayer; March 31-April 1 from 10 AM to 4 PM at
Jefferson County Fairgrounds Art Building, Port Townsend, WA. Cost: $130 (Volunteers $100) Lab fee: $40 (payable to instructor). No more reservations are available for this workshop.
This workshop is for anyone who likes to play and wants limited rules! Each participant will complete a reference art journal notebook as they make small fabric and paper samples using paste paper, resists, fabric crayons, paint sticks, marbled tissue, foiling, burned felt, stamping and more. “Stations” of each technique will be available so that everyone has the fun of trying innovative ways to decorate cloth, wrapping paper, greeting cards, and journals. This is an introduction to your creativity along with an inspirational journal of ideas and instruction. This workshop is for all skill levels.
The focus of Anita’s work includes a wide range of surface decoration as a result of her recently completed seven years of study in embroidery and design at Gail Harker’s Creative Design Center. She has previous experience and expertise in weaving and clothing design. Her work has been included in local, national and international shows. Anita is the published author of 2 books and 3 monographs. Her studio is located in Anacortes, Washington.
Please contact Pat Stromberg at 360-385-0863 or quiltpat@cablespeed.com.
“TRAVEL SKETCH JOURNAL” (Watercolor & Ink) with Miriam Lansdon; May 5 & 12 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Jefferson County Fairgrounds Art Building, Port Townsend, WA. Cost: $130 (Volunteers $100). Link to registration form (pdf).
Enhance the memories of your next vacation trip with your own travel sketch book. Miriam Lansdon, Port Townsend’s own well seasoned teacher, illustrator, and painter, is leading a two day workshop to show you how to create your travel journal. On the first day of the workshop, students will learn how to simplify a subject, use color and value and select significant lines to illustrate the subject. Next, watercolor washes and pen and ink will be used to illustrate buildings, landscapes, unique places and people. This quick technique is great for working on location and recording lots of information. Miriam will share her many sketch books filled with working drawings and observations made during her travels. Artists and beginners are welcome.
Miriam has been teaching beginning drawing, life drawing, landscape watercolor and other art classes for decades. Many of her former students are now represented in local art galleries. She currently teaches for Peninsula College and conducts private plein air classes in and around Port Townsend.
A supply list is attached to the Registration Form. Please contact Miriam Lansdon at 385-1621 or Virginia King at 360-385-2026 with any questions or email Gal4Fiber@cablespeed.com.
“POLYMER BOXES” (Polymer) with Kate Snow; May 13 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM 
Jefferson County Fairgrounds Art Building, Port Townsend, WA Cost: $65 (Volunteers $50) Material Fee: $10 payable to instructor. Link to registration form (pdf).
Learn how to create a beautiful box in a variety of shapes with polymer clay. Join Kate Snow for a fun-filled day full of instruction and tips. Polymer clay is an exciting and endlessly variable art medium. In this class, we will review (or learn) the basics of handling, baking, and finishing polymer: textures, colors and cane patterns. Then, use your favorite designs to make a small box. Techniques for veneering boxes also can be used on small sculptural pieces of your own design. This class is suitable for both beginners and advanced students. Box forms will be provided.
Painter and printmaker, Kathleen Snow discovered polymer clay in 1999 and hasn’t been able to put it down since. She has studied polymer techniques with Nan Roche, Cynthia Toops and Victoria Hughes. “Polymer is an incredibly versatile media: it can be anything.” Snow says. Her jewelry often imitates jade or lacquer. Most recently, she has been exploring sculptural forms that combine polymer with wire basketry and stone. Snow has a degree in Art History and is also a printmaker, painter and fiber artist. Her work has been in numerous galleries and shows in Idaho and Washington. Please contact Pat Stromberg at 360-385-0863 or quiltpat@cablespeed.com.
“DEMYSTIFICATION OF WATERCOLOR” with Jo-Neal Boic; Monday & Tuesday, June 9 & 10, 2008, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Jefferson County Fairgrounds Art Building, Port Townsend, WA. Cost: $130 (Volunteers $100). Link to registration form (pdf).
Jo-Neal’s watercolor philosophy is best summarized in her own words as she says “When people say that watercolor is the most difficult medium, after nineteen years of focus, I disagree! The thing that watercolor requires more than other mediums, is a deep knowledge of the pigments themselves. You must understand as you begin to use a color, what you are up against. Will it stain the paper permanently or can you lift all or most of it off? When you layer or glaze, which colors allow light to shine through? A lack of this knowledge can lead to disappointment and frustration.” The student will go through a series of exercises that will provide the knowledge needed to understand the characteristics of the paints. Jo-Neal feels that learning watercolor technique without instruction is laborious. She believes in teaching techniques. Also, it is Jo-Neal’s opinion that the idea that watercolor paintings cannot be fixed or saved is “simply absurd.”
Jo-Neal taught high school art and painting for more than a dozen years. She also studied art in Florence, Italy for a year and taught at a private International School, outside of Antwerp, Belgium. This past spring, she entered her first National Watercolor Society Members Show and, not only was accepted, but took the Henri De Kreuf Award, second place overall.
For more information, contact Virginia King at 360-385-2026 or Gal4Fiber@cablespeed.com.
“BEGINNING SUMI” with Gen Ashford; July 14-15 at the Fairgrounds Art Building. Cost $130 (Volunteers $100). Link to registration form (pdf) and class supply list (pdf).
Students will learn to handle their brush, the ink and paper in this Introduction to Sumi Painting workshop taught by Genevieve “Gen” Ashford. Participants will experience the thrill of seeing a variety of strokes flow from their brush. Beginners and those who have painted a bit are welcome to the class.
Gen is an experienced workshop teacher. She has been a member of Puget Sound Sumi Artists since 1993 and has studied with Andrew Hoffmeister and Keith Monahan at Washington State University. In addition, she has studied with many other prominent artists susch as Elizabeth Kincaid, Andrew Chinn, Priscilla Maynard, and Fumiko Kimura. She has lived in the Puget Sound area for most of her life, but has also traveled and lived in Thailand and Africa. For more information, contact Jeanette Best at 360-437-9579 or jbest@cablespeed.com or call Northwind Arts Center at (360) 379-1086.
“PLEIN AIR PAINTING” (Oil & Acrylic) with Dee Boyles; August 2-4 from 10 to 4 PM at the Fairground’s Art Building. Cost: $130 (2 days) or $175 (3 days). This plein air workshop can be taken as a two or three day event. Mr. Boyles will provide verbal instruction and demonstrations. He will assist each student individually as they paint under his watchful eye. Emphasis will be on oil painting although much of the information will be applicable to the use of acrylics. Painting landscapes is Dee Boyle’s passion and he will inspire each of the participants. He has a degree from the University of Oregon in Graphic Arts / Architecture and is a member of Plein Air Painters in Southern California, Laguna, Monterey Bay and California Art Club and the Oil Painters of America. He is the founding president of the Alaskan Chapter of the America Institute of Graphic Artists. Please contact Judy Courtwright at (360) 379-4037 or judy@judycourtwright.com.
“THE ARTISTRY OF BATIK”, with Sakura Davis; August 9 and 16 from 10 to 3 pm at Ms Davis Studio, Envirohouse, 627 Redwood St., Port Townsend. Cost: $130 (volunteers $100). Materials fee payable to the instructor - $10. Link to registration form (pdf). This workshop in the creative art of batik will explore the process of hot wax resisting dye on fabric and can accommodate the experienced and beginning artist. Traditionally batik has been used to make an expressive art image using the unique marks of many tools and Japanese calligraphy brushes in addition to the traditional “tjanting needles.” Since Sakura’s first batik studies in 1967 in Japan, she has drawn her inspiration from nature. Her images are abstractive and simplified in design, and thus are very compatible with both vat dye and brush on methods. Students are encouraged to explore their own images in the wax resist process. Also discussed will be the final finish of the dyed cloth, matting, framing, and presentation which yield surprising and exciting creative possibilities. Sakura is an experienced batik instructor and her studio is well ventilated. For more information, contact Sakura Davis at 360-385-6897 or call Northwind Arts Center at 379-1086.
“FRAMING AND PRESENTATION” with Jay Haskins and Don Tiller; August 28 from 10 to 3 PM at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds Building, Port Townsend. Cost for all participants: $50. Don Tiller, with his wife Jolene, were former owners of Kismet Design and Custom Framing. Jay Haskins once worked as a framer for Frank Vane for a number of years. Presently he spends time pursuing his own art projects as well as curating and hanging many of the Northwind Art Alliance shows. In this capacity he has seen a lot of work presented many different ways. The presentation of artwork is a factor in whether a juror will choose a certain piece. How it is matted and framed, whether the framing seems to fit the piece, enhances a piece of work. In this 1-day workshop we will be looking at presentationand framing and how to enhance a work. We will discuss some do’s and don’ts and providing contact info for supplies for mats, frames, glass and other supplies. Registration forms are available online or at the Northwind Art Center and can be left there with your tuition check. Link to framing-registration-form. For more information, please call Jay Haskins at (360) 385-6389 or jhkapotso@olympus.net.
“ASSEMBLAGE” with A.K. Anderson; September 15-16 from 10 to 4 PM. Cost: $130 (Volunteers $100). Link to registration form (pdf) and class supply list (pdf). You may begin preparing for Kim’s workshop by gathering a few interesting wooden boxes or small drawers (12″ max.) with a 2-5″ depth. Shadow box frames may be used. As a participant, you will take home one or more pieces of assemblage art graced with your own collection of intrepid objects.
Assemblage is creating three- dimensional artistic composition made of miscellaneous objects, often items that are found and/or recycled. So… what actually is an assemblage? It has been described as a three-dimensional artistic composition made of miscellaneous objects, often unrelated, fragmentary or discarded objects. The French artist Jean Dubuffet first used the term about his own work of turning found objects into a 3-D structure. Kim Anderson is inspired by found objects and the enjoyment of mixing textures. “Themes are revealed by various moments as I move through my everyday activities, as well as travel… a mood, a miracle, an impression, someone’s implied dream, a lyric, a memory, or an object,” she says.
Kim will teach several different techniques of material layering, and methods of hidden and stylish material attachment. She will discuss the elements of design that help with material choices and their placement. The history of assemblage will be explored and its influence on recent popularity of the medium. Kim will also bring an offering from her personal collection of favorite objects to share.
Kim Anderson is a graduate of Seattles’s Burnley School of Art, and a frequent participant in juried shows. Registration forms are available at the Northwind Art Center, 360-379-1086 or www.northwindarts.org. For more information, contact Jeanette Best at 360 437 9579 or jbest@cablespeed.com.
Workshop Registration and Policies
Many workshops have been scheduled for your continuing art education. Check on the website from time to time to see what additional workshops are being offered and for any schedule changes.
Registration Forms
Registration forms and specific information for workshops are available at the arts center and on the website.
Workshop Registration
Please check the registration form or with the Northwind Arts Center for the location of the workshop. Cancellation Policy: If the class is canceled, a full refund of tuition and fees will be issued.
Refund Policy: If a student notifies Northwind Arts Alliance of withdrawal from the workshop three business days prior to the class, he/she will receive a full refund less a 20% fee. No refund will be made if cancellation is less than 72 hours before the workshop, unless the space can be filled from the waiting list.
Please tell us about workshops you would like to have on our schedule, instructors from whom you wish to learn, times that work well and subjects of special interest. Call Judy at 360-379-4037 or judy@judycourtwright.com.