WORKSHOP DETAILS
Acrylic Techniques to Master Realism
Date: October 5 and 19, 2024
Time: 1:00pm to 4:00pm
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Level: This is an Advanced Beginner/Intermediate level class.
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Having trouble achieving your goals with your acrylic paints? Come and learn some tricks to really boss those paints around. We’ll start by trying out various techniques on a practice board, then we’ll paint a simple still life using what we’ve learned.
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Acrylic paints can be a wonderful, versatile medium for creating many styles of art. This 6-hour workshop spread over 2 days will allow you to build the skills necessary to use your acrylic paints with confidence. Skills we will explore include glazing, layering, blending, wet-in-wet, burnishing, and changing drying times. Plus, we’ll discuss how to plan a project to achieve the look we want, from choosing the underpainting to applying the finishing layers.
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You will learn how to use various acrylic mediums and brush techniques to alter the paint’s properties and create different effects like luminosity, haziness, texture, smooth transitions, glazes, and wet-in-wet effects.
About your Instructor: Amanda Schwabe is an artist and knit designer. She has been selling commissioned portraits and paintings for about six years, and she works primarily in acrylics. Her experience as both a painter and knitting teacher allows her to help her students break complex tasks down to their basic parts. Amanda’s classes are relaxed, fun, and welcoming, and her goal is to make creating art possible for every student regardless of where they are on their creative journey.
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What to Bring: Students are asked to ring the following basic supplies:
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1. Acrylic paints in primary colours, plus titanium white - Recommended primary colours:
For the smallest primary set size, use CMYK colour palette of Quinacridone Magenta, Hansa Yellow Opaque, and Phthalo Blue (Green Shade).
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OR
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A Classic primaries set (one each of red, blue, and yellow in a warm AND a cool version):
Cadmium Red Medium,
Quinacridone Magenta,
Hansa Yellow,
Cadmium Yellow OR Benzimidazolone Yellow,
Cobalt Blue OR Phthalo Blue,
Ultramarine Blue.
Bring what you have. We’ll be experimenting.
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2. Brushes in various textures.
Recommended: Coarser brushes for loading on paint (like Princeton Catalyst), smooth brushes for glazing (like Princeton Umbria or Raphael Imitation Sable), and a mop brush for blending (like a set of makeup brushes from Amazon).
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Note: brushes for acrylic paints should have body and be a bit springy. Pure sable is not desirable. Most nylon brushes with modern advances in the bristle structure will be fine.
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3. Other painting materials (palette, water containers, paper towels, apron, portable easel, etc.)
Recommended palette: Sta-Wet Palette and accompanying palette paper insert
Materials supplied: Students will be supplied with three 8x10” canvas boards for use over the 2 days plus there will be samples of acrylic media to try during class such as Open Acrylic Medium (Matte), Satin Glazing Liquid, Retarder, HighFlow Medium, Open Thinner, Regular Gel Semi-Gloss, Open Acrylic Heavy Body in Titanium White
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Cost: $120 + HST for two 3-hour expert-led classes including all instruction, handouts, practice canvas boards and specialized media for experimenting in class
Class Size: Limited to 8 people. This is an adult class for age 16+.
Make a Wet-Felted Hat
Date: Sunday, October 6, 2024
Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm
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Level: This is a Beginner class; no previous experience is required. In this 6-hour workshop, you will create your own hat in a style and colours that you love! Learn the process of wet-felting and also leave with a unique, custom creation.
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Starting with fine loose wool you will learn how to wet felt while making yourself a hat in your choice of styles (examples in picture). You can add ridges or spirals or spikes or ear flaps to your hat. You will have a choice of colour and there will be lots of extra wool in many colours and some hand dyed silk in several forms available for you to personalize your hat. Each person will leave with a finished hat.
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What to Bring: Clothes that can get wet, and apron (waterproof, if possible), scissors and 4 bath towels. There will be a lunch break. You may bring a lunch or enjoy one of our local restaurants.
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Class Size: Limited to 6 people. This is an adult class for age 16+.
Introduction to Knitting – 6-Week Course
Date: Wednesdays, October 30 – December 7, 2024
Time: 7:00pm to 9:00pm
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Level: This is a Beginner class; no previous experience is required. This 6-week program will allow you to build the skills necessary to tackle Beginner/Adventurous Beginner knitting projects with confidence.
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In this course, you will learn how to do a Knitted Cast On, knit and purl stitches, recognize and count stitches, create basic increases and decreases, read a simple pattern, ensure even tension and edges, fix common beginner mistakes, sew your knitting, and wash and block your pieces to size.
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In the process, you will create sample squares featuring popular and versatile stitch patterns including:
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Basket Stitch
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Seed Stitch
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Garter Stitch
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Stockinette
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Ribbing
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Stripes
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What to Bring: a 100g / 220y ball of yarn (worsted weight #4), preferably smooth, 100% wool in a light colour, AND size 7 US / 4.5 mm circular knitting needles with very smooth joins, 32” in length. Optional: scissors, blunt yarn darner, pencil.
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6 x 2-hour expert-led classes includes all instruction and handouts for each lesson
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Class Size: Limited to 8 people. This is an adult class for age 16+.
Beautiful Brioche
Date: Saturday, November 2, 2024
Time: 1:00pm to 4:00pm
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Level: This is an Adventurous Beginner/Intermediate class; no previous experience in Brioche stitch is required but students need to be comfortable with Cast-on, Knit, Purl, and Cast-off.
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Brioche is a knitted rib technique that, when worked in 2 or more colours, creates a reverse colour pattern between front and back. This 3-hour workshop will allow you to build the skills necessary to tackle two-colour Brioche Stitch knit patterns with confidence.
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In this course, you will learn how manage 2 different colours of yarn and execute the Brioche Stitch. Once the basics of Brioche Stitch are mastered, we will also introduce reading Brioche stitch patterns, increasing and decreasing, and fixing basic mistakes.
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About your Instructor: Amanda Schwabe is an artist, yarnaholic, knitting teacher, and knitwear designer. She has been knitting for over 25 years and teaching for over a decade. Her experience as a knitwear designer allows her to help students translate pattern instructions effectively. Amanda’s goal is to make knitting easier and more fun for every student regardless of where they are on their knitting journey.
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What to Bring: 2x 50g (or larger) balls of worsted-weight (#4) yarn in contrasting colours, preferably at least 50% wool and smooth, AND size 7 US / 4.5 mm circular knitting needles with very smooth joins, 24 – 32” in length, AND a size G / 7 US / 4.5 mm crochet hook.
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Class Size: Limited to 8 people. This is an adult class for age 16+.
