Creative Classes

This drawing-based, 1-day Workshop will focus on exploring repetitive mark-making as a calming, meditative practice. Students will use repetition with a variety of drawing materials to discover the benefits of slowing down, finding focus, and developing rhythm in order to counteract the high stress of our fast-paced society. With emphasis on exploration, this class is open to all levels of creatives while placing value on the practice of being present in the moment rather than thinking too far ahead to a finished piece.

To gather ideas and an understanding of ways in which repeated marks are used by artists, the class will tour the Denver Art Museum galleries to see works by Agnes Martin, Vance Kirkland, Lucy Lewis, and Camille Pissarro (and other Impressionists.) In addition, students will view works by Modern and Contemporary artists beyond the DAM Collections. Students will experiment with mark-making in sketchbooks using a variety of drawing tools including pencils, pens, markers, and other dry media. This experimentation will lead to creating a work or multiple works on small-format fine art paper. Class participants will develop a unique visual language of marks to add to their toolbox for both artistic creation and personal well-being.

The foundations of learning and practice in this 1-day workshop will be centered around the question of how the Impressionists captured light and color in their paintings. Students will explore different approaches in creating a sense of atmosphere with color, light and shadow, and mark-making through the study of The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism and other Impressionist works in the DAM collections. Students will learn basic watercolor techniques to guide their artistic explorations, culminating in a finished painting made during the workshop.

In this 1-day workshop, students will learn how to make paper from recycled materials. Students will gain an understanding of papermaking methods through the process of creating paper pulp and using different screen sizes to press and dry their own custom paper pages. This paper can be used for cards, tags, and artwork. Each student will leave the workshop with a handful of unique recycled paper sheets.

Price includes a $60 Studio Fee for all materials provided.

The Traditional Japanese Art of Bonseki: Seasons in Sand will introduce participants to the meditative practice of arranging white sand, stones, and small tools on black lacquer trays to create ephemeral miniature landscapes. Rooted in ancient Japanese and Chinese traditions and connected to the appreciation of suiseki (scholar’s stones), bonseki embodies themes of ephemerality, seasonal awareness, and poetic reflection. Through guided demonstrations, hands-on practice, and quiet viewing (haiken), students will learn both introductory and intermediate techniques for shaping landscapes such as winter skies, blossoms, and birds in flight. The workshop will incorporate seasonal poetry, a tea and sweets service, and group reflection. In addition, participants will have the rare opportunity to view selections from the instructor’s personal antique bonseki collection, including traditional trays and tools, offering a tangible connection to the art form’s history and refinement. The class resonates with Japanese aesthetic traditions within the Arts of Asia collections at the Denver Art Museum.

*Price includes a $60 Studio Fee for all materials provided.