Come take a class with us! "Ancestral Abstracts" this October in Stamford CT

Yesterday we spent part of our day working on a couple canvases in anticipation of our Ancestral Abstracts class that we're teaching this October at Art Is You, in Stamford, Connecticut. We hope to be able to take time each weekend to work on new class examples and techniques in preparation for Stamford. Painting free and loose is such a great change of pace. And we love the idea of bringing the pieces together with a favorite vintage photo. 

So much of this class is based on working in layers and creating depth an texture with paint and other mediums. We love that we can work on opposite sides of the room, but in the end our pieces will bear so many similarities.  

These are the types of pieces that you can't fully appreciate through photographs. There is so much depth, and most of it is achieved with layers of transparent mediums. I love floating color directly into a thick swath of clear gel…when it dries it's like the paint is trapped inside a chunk of amber. 

We had a lot of fun teaching a condensed version of this class in Memphis, and for Stamford we plan on going much more in depth with the process.

I feel like beginning a piece is just as rewarding as finishing one. There's a little thrill that goes along with laying those first marks down on your canvas. 

If you've got even the slightest urge to join us, please do. Sign ups will be closing fairly soon, and class size is limited. It's so awesome that ours is a Friday night class…from 7-10pm. And the next day we'll have plenty of our artwork for sale at the vendor fair. 

We've included all the info below. In addition to us, there are so so many great teachers who's classes we know you'll love. We'd so love for you to join us!!

We will be teaching at Art Is...You Art Retreat in Stamford CT!

ANCESTRAL ABSTRACTS

Friday October 10, 2014  7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

"Instant Ancestors" are one of our favorite collectibles. These are our prized vintage and antique photographs or cabinet cards of handsome gentlemen or striking ladies, who we have no relation to, but they are family all the same. Collected over the years from flea markets, antique and junk shops, hidden away in old shoe boxes...they put a face to our love for vintage treasures. And we love to create artwork using these time worn, tattered, and sepia toned portraits.
This class is all about pairing the old with the new. You'll create a mixed media abstract painting with layers and layers of color and texture, using a wide range of mediums and tools, and as a focal point you'll incorporate an enlarged print of a favorite antique or vintage photograph. Your resulting Ancestral Abstract will be a gorgeous and very personal piece of portrait art.Painting abstracts can be intimidating, but we'll help you free yourself to develop your own style and color palette, and to identify what your special "marks" are. We'll show you what mediums work best to create depth and texture. And that blank canvas that was once so intimidating will be your own personal playground by the end of this class.  
Students will need:
1 inch flat brush#8 round brush#14 round brush# 10 painting knife (Bob Ross brand is our favorite)PencilOptional:
(We will be providing a whole lot of supplies but if you have favorites of the following that you’d like to use feel free.)
Patterned rubber stampsArchival all surface ink padsGood Quality enlarged prints of vintage & Antique portraits/photos 
Sign up here.
xo, Jenny & Aaron

Take a class with us in May...in Memphis Tennessee!

As far as art goes, our absolute favorite thing to do is to get out there, travel to fun places that are filled with other creative peeps like us, and make art with our friends, new and old. And lucky for us, there just so happens to be a stellar venue for doing just that. You may have heard of it...it's called Art is You Retreats. And this April 30th, May 1st and 2nd we'll be there! Very near to Memphis Tennessee, at Art is Dixie! 

On Wednesday we'll be at the huge vendor fair ("Art Trunk") with a bunch of our artwork, class kits that are exclusive to the event, custom stickers, prints, signed copies of our book...and lots of other stuff. And we're teaching two very awesome all day classes...one on Thursday and one on Friday. And the great thing about Art is Dixie is that it's an a la cart art event. In total there are seven days of classes...and if you want, you can stay the whole week and make art until your hands go numb and vision blurs...or you can simply take ONE class!...or two or three and so on. There is always great food there...it's always set in a very nice hotel...the teaching space is ample...the environment is so darn welcoming, encouraging, and you are bound to make lasting friendships. We sure did! 

If you are anywhere near Memphis in May we'd love for you to join us. If you live close enough and you don't need to stay overnight, you can do that...just make an awesome day of it...or maybe stay with a friend. Or...if you'd like to board a plane to come make art with us...by all means...we'd love to have you! All of the hotel info is on the site...there are great rates for event attendees.

And here's the kicker...right now, if you use a limited time promo code you can get $60.00 off your Art is Dixie purchase price!  When you register for either of our classes enter HOLIDAY (all caps) into the Event Code box on page 2 beside the package of days selection, and you will get $60 off your total registration.

Here's a look at our classes...beginners are Totally welcome!!

EXPRESSIVE ABSTRACTS

Thursday May 1, 2014  10:00 am - 5:00 pm
It’s surprising how intimidating a blank canvas can be…especially when you’re setting out to create an abstract work of art. We can both recall our first forays into painting abstracts. We were more than a bit apprehensive…maybe even slightly scared. But in art, it is persistence and confidence that will bring you to that breakthrough moment. And in this class that’s exactly what we’ll do…we’ll give you your moment. In painting abstracts you get to tap into the purest center of your artistic soul. We’ll put our inhibitions aside and free up the colors and textures that reside inside all of us. And what’s so exciting to us…(and hopefully to you guys!)…is that the two of us…(Jenny & Aaron)…have such vastly different styles when it comes to painting abstracts. And yet…when the two of us collaborate on a single canvas the styles can sit side by side seamlessly. You’re bound to find common ground in one, if not both of our unique approaches. Over the course of the day you’ll develop your unique “marks”, identify your personal color palette, complete smaller “studies” to take home with you, as well as your very own large format masterpiece.

Students will need:

1 inch flat brush
#8 round brush
#14 round brush
# 10 painting knife, Bob Ross brand
Pencil
Optional:

(We will be providing a whole lot of supplies but if you have favorites of the following that you’d like to use feel free.)

Patterned rubber stamps
Archival all surface ink pads

Sign up here.

Painting Girls and So Much More - a Mixed Media Celebration

Friday May 2, 2014  10:00 am - 5:00 pm

The star of the show will be your very own cute girl portrait, but there will be so much more to it than that. Working with a wide array of mediums and techniques you’ll create a work of art with layers, lots of color, and texture. Everything from creating dimensional patterns with molding paste and stencils, to stamping, speckling with paint, some doodles here and there, color washes, collage and paper piecing, and of course…hand painting.

We plan on taking you as far into a mixed media wonderland as possible. And at the center of it all will be your cute girl portrait, which we’ll teach you how to render, step-by-step, from scratch, in our signature style.

And for those of you who might find this idea daunting…fear not…we’ll be closely assisting you every step of the way and we’ll also provide templates of our own girls that you can use as “head starts” in your pieces. You’ll also get to use a whole bunch of our original artwork. We’ll provide high quality prints of our best painted imagery…some cakes, cupcakes, flowers, and more…all on collage sheets that you can cut, paste, and seamlessly incorporate into the “worlds” of your own canvases. Each student will create one large masterpiece, as well as some smaller pieces or “studies” rendered along the way.

Students will need:

    Scissors

    Pencil

    Eraser

    Matte finish mod podge or gel medium

    Molding paste

    ¾ inch flat brush

    #1 round brush

    #6 round brush

    #8 round brush

Optional:

(We will be providing a whole lot of supplies but if you have favorites of the following that you’d like to use feel free.)

    Favorite patterned papers

    Ephemera

    Buttons

    Ribbons

    Stamps

    Stencils

    Acrylic paints

Sign up here.

 Don't forget to use code : HOLIDAY for $60.00 off!

We hope to see you there! 

xo J&A