It is Almost Time for CREATE Mixed Media Retreat

I am thrilled to be one of 30 instructors at the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in Irvine, California, May 30th - June 3rd, 2012! This weekend, 23 of the instructors are participating in a blog hop. Their blog addresses are at the bottom of this post and I encourage you to visit their websites to see what they will be teaching at CREATE.

I am excited to embark on this California adventure, in the company of my amazing friend, Dea Fischer, who will be teaching two book art courses and also co-teaching photo transfer processes with me. If you love mixed media and are in the area, or if you would like to take a little vacation in Orange County, check out the 60 courses offered at this amazing retreat. There are courses in book making and art journaling, print making and surface design, mixed media stitch, collage and assemblage, mixed media jewellery... wow! The available workshops can be seen here. I will be teaching Fuji transfers, Fuji emulsion lifts, and Creating the Vision; Printing and Transferring Your Images. If you would like to know more please see examples and course descriptions below.

Fuji Emulsion Lifts
Ha Ling By Tiffany Teske 

Fuji Emulsion Lifts (3-Hour)

Date: Saturday, June 2 Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm

Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design

Instructor: Tiffany Teske

Price: $85.00

Materials Fee: $20.00

Looking for a new way to add your images to your art? Let Tiffany teach you how to make Fuji Emulsion Lifts using Daylabs & Polaroid cameras. Whether you are a skilled photographer or a novice you will learn how to turn your images into one-of-a-kind emulsion lifts that can be displayed on their own or used to enhance your mixed-media pieces. If you have experience with Polaroid emulsion lifts, this class shows you a similar way to work with a more readily available film. Participants will leave with up to 20 Fuji images, on watercolor paper, glass, and metal, to use in other workshops.

Students Should Bring: 90 or 140 lb hot press (smooth) watercolor paper in 4x5” pieces (up to 20), 4x6” prints of photographs to work with and/or 35mm slides, Acrylic gel medium (matte or gloss), a 1" brush for applying medium, any porous or non porous surfaces you would like to put an emulsion lift on (examples: shell, metal, mirror, glass, wood, fabric

 

Fuji transfer

By Tiffany Teske

Fuji Image Transfers (3-Hour)

Date: Sunday, June 3 Time: 9:00am-12noon

Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design

Instructor: Tiffany Teske

Price: $85.00

Materials Fee: $10.00

Do you use your own images in your art? Join Tiffany for an introduction to Fuji image transfers using Daylabs and Polaroid cameras. Whether you are a skilled photographer or a novice you will learn how to turn your images into one-of-a-kind transfers that can be displayed on their own or used to enhance your mixed media pieces. If you have experience with Polaroid transfers this class shows you a new (and different) way to work with a more readily available film. Participants will leave with up to 10 finished transfers on watercolor paper which can be used in other workshops.

Students Should Bring: 10 pieces of 90 or 140 lb hot press (smooth) watercolor paper cut into 4x5” pieces, 4x6” prints of personal photographs to work with and/or 35mm slides

Gel medium skin on glass 

Maine by Tiffany Teske

Creating the Vision: Printing and Transferring Your Images (6-Hour)

Date: Friday, June 1 Time: 9:00am-4:00pm

Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design

Instructor: Tiffany Teske & Dea Fischer

Price: $149.00

Materials Fee: $25.00

You've mastered the photography and you've created images you love. Deepen your layers of creative engagement by learning to incorporate images of your own creation into your mixed-media artwork. Join Tiffany Teske and Dea Fischer to explore fascinating image printing and transfer techniques that can be tricky to master effectively. You will create cyanotype or "sun" prints from negatives, and practice making gel medium skins and transfers, blender pen transfers, encaustic and heat transfers. You will produce several pieces during this workshop that you can take away to use in your work

Students Should Bring: Negatives (large format if you have them or know how to make them, but we will teach you); photocopies (not prints) of non-copyrighted or self-created material; soft gel acrylic medium; 1" soft-bristle paint brush, blender pen (a solvent-based art marker like Copic with no pigment, available from your art supplier); an old spoon.

If you would like to sign up for any of these courses, or would like to know more about CREATE, please go to the CREATE website.

The Create Mixed Media Retreat’s Meet the Instructors Blog Celebration Weekend:

• Dawn DeVries Sokol: dawndsokol.c
• Helen Shafer Garcia: agavelatte.blogspot.com
• Jacqueline Newbold: djnewbold.blogspot.com
• Jane LaFazio: janeville.blogspot.com
• Jeannie P. Moore: Jeanniemooresblog.blogspot.com
• Jen Cushman: jencushman.wordpress.com
• Joanne Sharpe: joannezsharpe.blogspot.com
• Jodi Ohl: sweetrepeats.blogspot.com
• Leighanna Light: Thingmakerstudio.blogspot.com
• Lisa Engelbrecht: lisaletters.blogspot.ca
• Orly Avineri: oneartistjournal.wordpress.com
• Pam Carriker: pamcarriker.com
• Robin Dudley-Howes: robindudleyhowes.blogspot.com
• Sandra Duran Wilson: sandraduranwilson.blogspot.com
• Sherrie Drummond: sherriejd.com
• Sue Pelletier: suepelletierlaughpaint.com
• Tiffany Teske: tiffanyteske.com
• Kari McKnight-Holbrook: backporchartessa.blogspot.com
• Laura Mika: mikaarts.com
• Thomas G. Ashman: blacksheepartist.com/blog
• Bianca Mandity: Biancandm.blogspot.com
• Clarissa Callesen  clarissacallesen.blogspot.com
• Kristen Robinson: KristenRobinson.net

And Cloth Paper Scissors Editor Jenn Mason!

I Will Be Teaching Fuji Transfer, Fuji Emulsion Lift, & Other Photo Transfer Techniques at CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in California

I am very excited to be one of 30 instructors at the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in Irvine, California, May 30th - June 3rd, 2012! It has been five years, to the day, since I travelled to teach. Back then, I brought my 1.5 year old daughter to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to teach digital travel photography. Now, I have a 5.5 year old and a 2.5 year old, and I am ready to embark on a new adventure, solo this time, in the company of my amazing friend, Dea Fischer. If you love mixed media and are in the area, or if you would like to take a little vacation in Orange County, check out the 60 courses offered at this amazing retreat. There are courses in book making and art journaling, print making and surface design, mixed media stitch, collage and assemblage, mixed media jewlery... wow! The workshops are listed by order of day and can be seen here. I will be teaching Fuji transfers, Fuji emulsion lifts, and Creating the Vision; Printing and Transferring Your Images (with my wonderful friend, Dea!) If you would like to know more please see examples and course descriptions below.

Fuji Emulsion Lifts
Ha Ling By Tiffany Teske 

Fuji Emulsion Lifts (3-Hour)

Date: Saturday, June 2 Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm

Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design

Instructor: Tiffany Teske

Price: $85.00

Materials Fee: $20.00

Looking for a new way to add your images to your art? Let Tiffany teach you how to make Fuji Emulsion Lifts using Daylabs & Polaroid cameras. Whether you are a skilled photographer or a novice you will learn how to turn your images into one-of-a-kind emulsion lifts that can be displayed on their own or used to enhance your mixed-media pieces. If you have experience with Polaroid emulsion lifts, this class shows you a similar way to work with a more readily available film. Participants will leave with up to 20 Fuji images, on watercolor paper, glass, and metal, to use in other workshops.

Students Should Bring: 90 or 140 lb hot press (smooth) watercolor paper in 4x5” pieces (up to 20), 4x6” prints of photographs to work with and/or 35mm slides, Acrylic gel medium (matte or gloss), a 1" brush for applying medium, any porous or non porous surfaces you would like to put an emulsion lift on (examples: shell, metal, mirror, glass, wood, fabric

 

Fuji transfer

By Tiffany Teske

Fuji Image Transfers (3-Hour)

Date: Sunday, June 3 Time: 9:00am-12noon

Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design

Instructor: Tiffany Teske

Price: $85.00

Materials Fee: $10.00

Do you use your own images in your art? Join Tiffany for an introduction to Fuji image transfers using Daylabs and Polaroid cameras. Whether you are a skilled photographer or a novice you will learn how to turn your images into one-of-a-kind transfers that can be displayed on their own or used to enhance your mixed media pieces. If you have experience with Polaroid transfers this class shows you a new (and different) way to work with a more readily available film. Participants will leave with up to 10 finished transfers on watercolor paper which can be used in other workshops.

Students Should Bring: 10 pieces of 90 or 140 lb hot press (smooth) watercolor paper cut into 4x5” pieces, 4x6” prints of personal photographs to work with and/or 35mm slides

Gel medium transfer on glass 

Maine by Tiffany Teske

Creating the Vision: Printing and Transferring Your Images (6-Hour)

Date: Friday, June 1 Time: 9:00am-4:00pm

Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design

Instructor: Tiffany Teske & Dea Fischer

Price: $149.00

Materials Fee: $25.00

You've mastered the photography and you've created images you love. Deepen your layers of creative engagement by learning to incorporate images of your own creation into your mixed-media artwork. Join Tiffany Teske and Dea Fischer to explore fascinating image printing and transfer techniques that can be tricky to master effectively. You will create cyanotype or "sun" prints from negatives, and practice making gel medium skins and transfers, blender pen transfers, encaustic and heat transfers. You will produce several pieces during this workshop that you can take away to use in your work

Students Should Bring: Negatives (large format if you have them or know how to make them, but we will teach you); photocopies (not prints) of non-copyrighted or self-created material; soft gel acrylic medium; 1" soft-bristle paint brush, blender pen (a solvent-based art marker like Copic with no pigment, available from your art supplier); an old spoon.

If you would like to sign up for any of these courses, or would like to know more about CREATE, please go to the CREATE website by click this link. If you can't make it to California, but will be in Banff, Alberta, or near here, please contact me for a private workshop. Cheers!

Fauve for Kids

On Thursday, I taught an art course at the Banff Public Library. It is the second time I have taught at the library, and I love to do it. The first course I taught was a mosaic mirror class, when Holly was still the librarian. Since then, Barbara has become the new librarian. I met her at my exhibit opening, and asked her to keep me in mind for kid's programming. She did! Tonya called me to ask if I would teach the class that she teaches on the first Thursday of each month, for November. She and several of the other librarians were planning to attend a conference in Calgary that day.

I love being asked to teach a class and then researching what I might teach. I gave Tonya the option of having me teach the kids about Fauve artists and having them paint portraits, or having them make color collages, where they select a color and then make a collage of items only in that color. We decided that because the kids are ages 6-11 years old that the cutting out of numerous objects might be too much for some of them, but that because she never has them paint, that would be a treat. She said that one hour is not generally enough time for painting, but I assured her that with small canvas boards and acrylic paint that it would be fine.


The local dollar store owner was nice enough to special order the canvas boards for me, which the kids like because they are more "real" than paper. On the day of the class, I had a nice older child help me to pass everything out, and in the end, instead of having 11 kids we had 13! I was happy to have extra materials to be able to welcome the extra kids. And a mom to help me change wash water, squirt out paints, and help when needed. Tonya had selected some amazing grown up art books I could use to show the kids examples of well known Fauve artists like Gauguin, Matisse, and Derain. Fauve means "wild beast" in French, and fauvists painted in a spontaneous manner, using bold colors, from about 1905-1908.


The kids got really excited when I explained that they could paint a portrait of a person or a pet or even a landscape using completely unusual colors. After sketching, they began to paint. In order to let the paint dry a bit, I read an awesome book, called "When Pigasso Met Mootisse" by Nina Laden.

I love the brilliantly colored pages and the fun story, I can't wait to check it out for Quin. After the story the kids painted a black outline around their painting. Then we read one more book. In the end, Tonya was in the building until the end of the class, and she was amazed by the behavior of the kids. They were excellent, even the one I know who is normally very loud. I take a very laid back approach when I teach art. I don't have a lot of rules, just a loose outline, and I want the kids to create what they feel. This usually results in a much more free and easy environment than when I have been stricter. My goal is for the kids to have fun, while learning, and for them to come to the library for both reading and creating. I was honored that Tonya and Barbara thought I had done such a great job, and I was so proud of the kids' work. We pulled it all off in an hour and the kids were proud to bring home their works of art, along with some new books about art.


I was inspired to teach this project after seeing a post on one of my new favorite blogs, Art Projects for Kids ....

Teaching for the Town of Banff

Today I spoke with Kim Coultis, the Programming Director of the Town of Banff, about teaching courses in the fall. She is also one of the awesome people in charge of the Home Grown Exhibit. I am meeting with her on April 15th about teaching. It has been awhile sime I taught, about 1 1/2 years, man, time flies!! I was teaching Polaroid transfer and emulsion lifts at the Nepean Visual Art Centre after Quin was born just before coming here. Oh, and I did teach photography in Mexico in January. But, it has been a long time since I taught dance, arts & crafts, and photography to kids, which is mostly what I would like to do this fall. It will be awesome to be teaching right down the road. Yippee!



I used to teach mosaics, so may do that again, too...

And speaking of classes, I AM TOTALLY PSYCHED, because this session, the Town of Banff is offering a SEWING CLASS!! AND I know the teacher, Sheila Snowsell. I sign right up and hope that there will be enough people for it to run. Look out sewing machine, I will be using you A LOT in the very near future. Happy dance here...