About the Workshop
Color as Portal--Experimental Material Methods: This workshop offers a multisensory approach to making work in color. We'll start with exercises to enhance how you see, remember, smell, taste, and think about color. Then, we'll work with color as a material using drawing, collage, mixed media, painting, and sculpture, encouraging play, experimentation, and thoughtful engagement. You'll have the option to explore a variety of materials, including drawing tools, paint, found objects, foam, wood, fabric, and more. We’ll also discuss contemporary artists who explore color and materials in unique ways. The instructor will guide beginners to expand their comfort with materials while challenging advanced students to break habits and experiment.
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About Bonnie Paisley
Bonnie holds a BFA from RISD and an MFA from Portland State University. She is the owner of Paisley Studios, a community fine art studio that offers grounding support to artists of all skill levels through visual art instruction and an affordable membership program for womxn artists. In her own work, Bonnie is a maximalist, creating surfaces and textures that are encrusted, saccharine, and refuse to be neatly contained. Drawing inspiration from the kitchen activities and living spaces of the women in her family, her work evokes ephemeral celebrations and carnivalesque arrangements and infuses utilitarian materials with elegant sensuousness.​
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Learn more at:
bonniepaisley.com
Instructor will provide:
I will supply a variety of paper, collage materials, foam board, insulation, foam coat, foam cutting tools, a variety of glues, a large collection of drawing materials to share, a large collection of pigments in oil, watercolor, and acrylic for students to sample sparingly, wire, wire cutters, string, thread, sewing needles, slide shows, and optional readings.
What students should bring:
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This list is very open to individual interpretation--I am happy to answer any questions for anyone who might be confused about what to bring/buy.
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Fluid color of some kind—whatever you normally like working with, this could be acrylic, oil paint*, watercolor, gouache, inks, small amounts of latex house paint, etc.
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Pigments: There are many, many colors out there, and having a wider variety of pigments can produce more varied effects and outcomes, but I realize that paint can be expensive.
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(Bare Minimum): 2 yellows, 2 blues, 2 reds, white & black (More if you want): Earth tones, Secondary/Tertiary Colors (Oranges, Greens, Violets), metallics, neons, etc.
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Please bring one color that you strongly dislike (hate is a strong word, but could be applied here), and one color that you dearly love.
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*oil paint is ok to work with, but please keep in mind that it dries a lot slower than other types of paint. It also can be used on top of dry water-based paint, but it can’t be mixed directly with anything water-based.
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Quantity: Paints vary in size, quality, and price. We will be working with materials on and off for 5 days—how much paint and what type of paint you have will determine how large you can work, how fast, how many things you can work on, and how long you need to wait for things to dry. For example, you could bring some larger tubes of cheaper paint to use for experiments, and then use your nicer/higher quality paints for developing more finished works.
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A palette or surface to mix fluid paints on (these vary depending on what type of paint you are using)
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A palette knife or tool to mix colors (a brush can be used, but a knife tool is handy and will preserve your brushes)
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Brushes or tools to work with fluid color (one or two bigger sizes, a few medium and small)
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Scissors for cutting paper and possibly fabric, a #11 exacto knife with replacement blades
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1 roll of 1” blue painter’s tape
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A couple of quality glue sticks (I like UHU brand)
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An apron to protect your clothes
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A high quality sketch book appropriate for mixed media for notes, sketches, color tests, etc. Any size is fine, but I like a 9"x12".
Intagibles:
An open and inquisitive mind, a willingness to experiment (maybe fail) and tone down self-judgment (easier said than done, I know). One or two memories of a color that you are comfortable sharing: Think about it for a while…was there a time when a color stopped you in your tracks or crept into your mind slowly and persistently? Can you remember what hue (yellow, red, blue) it was? Can you remember any of the surrounding context? Where does this color live in time (way back or recent or both?)