Classes 2017

  

Painting on Silk
Arts Weekend 2017
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Returning to the fundamentals of what we love about colors moving on silk, we will take a special look at how good composition is the basis for a great design.

Using different forms of resist, we will see better how both positive and negative space impact our paintings. What is positive and negative space, anyway? Basically, intensity and quiet, in balance. Just as in our lives, we need both. At the Arts Weekend, we have the perfect setting to provide both!

Each person is encouraged to go further in their personal development of imagery. Inspiration and full technical support will be provided.

List of materials to bring will be provided upon registration.

Suzanne Punch BFA in Painting from Cleveland Institute of Art in 1984, has taught workshops in Santa Fe, NM, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Mendocino in California, and at the Society of Illustrators in New York. Painting for the fashion industry in New York, Suzanne has done prototypes and production for Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Marchesa, Tracy Feith, Theory, JF and Son, as well as Premiere Vision in Paris. Her work has been exhibited in Tokyo and in galleries across the USA and may be seen in Susan Louise Moyer's books on silk painting.

www.suzannepunch.com


Pottery: The Mystery of Human Touch

Simple mud, formless potential, waiting humbly to be transformed by the human hand. Talk to the clay with your touch, listen to the clay with your body.

Is there a way where the head, the hand and the heart are more connected as a whole and the clay responds?

Pinch a bowl with your eyes closed, build a world from the touch of your hand, center the clay from a quiet mind and explore making your own Yixing teapot.

We will work at our own pace with hand-building, and experience mindful centering on the potter's wheel and other wheel-throwing techniques will be explored.

The value of practice is encouraged

Open to students of all levels.

Sylvia March, BA, Sarah Lawrence College and MA, Kyoto City University of Fine Arts, Kyoto, Japan. In 1967, after seeing an exhibition of pots by a Japanese Living National Treasure, Shoji Hamada, Sylvia was inspired to go to Japan to study pottery. In the University setting she learned the value of disciplined practice in a relaxed atmosphere, studying with Japanese masters alongside Japanese students. Sylvia visited many pottery villages and then worked in Otani in Kyushu. On her return from Japan, she approached Sarah Lawrence College and wrote a course proposal of "Ceramics as a Traditional Art of Japan" and instructed for 5 years. Many of her students followed her advice, "do what you love in your life" and some became professional potters. Sylvia continues to love making pottery and has been exhibited in many galleries in NYC and nationally. Sylvia, shared her love of pottery making teaching "Ceramics" at the Brearley School in NYC for 25 years and now teaches special classes in her home studio in Palisades NY.

www.sylviamarch.com


Acting: Creating a Character

The inner/outer nature of character is explored using exercises in observation, line-learning, script analysis and group work. Performance is not required but, for those interested, the weekend could culminate in the showing of short scenes and monologues. Actors and non-actors of all levels are welcome. Telephone interview with instructor is requested.

Barbara Spiegel, a NY-based veteran stage/television/film actress, currently plays Judge Doremus on the television series Law & Order. She is a former member of Lincoln Center Repertory and had her own theater program for 17 years at the New School. She continues private coaching for acting professionals and nonprofessionals She is a lifetime member of the Actor’s Studio.


Seeing with Digital Photography

How does an image come into being? Where does it come from and how does it make itself known? Does it find its own shape? And once a print has been made, how do we explore the image further? Digital photography is the means. A basic discussion of technical digital concepts will be covered and each participant will need a digital camera. To qualify, a conversation with one of the instructors is required.

Lee B. Ewing is the Sculpture Photographer for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and studied with Minor White.

David Heald is the Chief Photographer for the Guggenheim Museum in New York, NY; his photographs of the Cistercian Abbeys in France were published in 2000 in the book Architecture of Silence by Harry N. Abrams, NY.


The Art of Storytelling

Work one-on-one in the step-by-step process of creating, writing, and performing original material. Learn to transform real life experiences into rich skills that bring value to cultural and oral traditions.

Peggy Pettitt/Master Teacher and performance artist teaches at New York University, national cultural centers, and public schools, as well as independent artists working to present original stories in performance. Recipient of National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the arts, and Fulbright and Watson Fellowships, she has received honors from numerous performance and community organizations for her vision and "Commitment to the Art of Storytelling that transforms lives and Communities". "Source: The Bead Lady", her most recent storytelling performance traces American history through its African American blues and gospel roots.


Color – Alive by avoiding formulas

We sometimes notice we are repetitive, thoughtless and dull while working, and it shows in our work. What's missing? What do we need? We are tempted to think we need more knowledge, but knowing a lot does not really satisfy our need. In fact, formulas about how to paint, compose, make color relationships, etc, just wind up putting us to sleep, not making us more creative. Would you be interested in studying this stuck place together? How can we get unstuck?

William Tapley did post-graduate studies at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris and The Royal Academy of Art, London. He has taught Color at The School of Visual Arts in NYC since 1966 and continues to paint in NYC and NY State.


Haiku/Writing: A process of discovery

Haiku, from its Japanese origins in the Zen koan to its embrace of nature, is the practice of being in the moment and crafting the experience into words. This three line form can become an avenue for renewing our connection and intimacy with ourselves and the world. We will study the structure of haiku by making haiku with an eye toward bringing this practice into our daily living.

Jim Handlin, Ed.D., a classical language scholar, wrote his doctoral dissertation at Columbia University on haiku and creative leadership. He has a poem in marble in Manhattan's Penn Station alongside poems of William Carlos Williams and Walt Whitman. His haiku have been internationally published and he has received many haiku awards. Author of two books of haiku (one of them a prize winner), he is a former judge of Japan Airlines Children's Haiku Contest, the largest haiku contest in the world. Jim is also the recipient of three New Jersey State Council on the Arts Grants for his poetry which has been published in numerous anthologies and journals. In his spare time Jim has been the Headmaster of numerous schools, and now he guides the Woodstock Day School in Woodstock, New York.


Landscape Painting

With just a little pigment and a lot of water, watercolor provides remarkable fluidity, economy and spontaneity. A few brush strokes with graded wash... and land, water, and sky emerge into a landscape of great depth and space. As the paint dries, dry-brush details in the foreground secure the sense of being there in time and place. A nature walk will begin our exploration.

Materials Fee: $36

Benton Grant, BS, University of Pennsylvania and MFA, Columbia University, is a painter and a landscape architect. He finds an almost symbiotic relation between these two fields and experiences. Landscape painting is a tangible way of appreciating both.


Fire Making:

Fire and humans have been inseparable for hundreds of thousands of years. It is a powerful force of creation and destruction. Besides being essential for our survival, fire is a source of light, heat protection and purification . We have used it since the earliest days for preparing food and making tools. We'll explore techniques for building and lighting fires and the place of fire in our lives.

Tom Manning is an Agricultural Engineer who designs greenhouses and renewable energy systems.  He and his wife Ruth now engage in this ancient craft together and with their children.

Ruth Manning has been playing in the woods and painting as long as she can remember. She studied Fine Art and Pottery at Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY; primitive skills and plant use (with her husband and children) at The Tracker School in Waretown, NJ; and herbalism with Patricia Chichon in Lambertville, NJ. She is currently expanding her studies at wildernessFusion, a school that teaches Niasziih. a Lipan Apache earth energy-based healing tradition, which was passed down from Grandfather Stalking Wolf to Tom Brown, Jr., to Karl Direske, the director of the school.


Singing:

Join us for an exploration of singing from a relaxed body. Popular songs from A to Z can be enjoyed best from a grounded and calm place. It works both ways. You can hear the song better and you can deliver it better from what I call a “zero�?place without tensions, or as few as possible. While singing from there you can choose the best way to express the great songs of our nation, the folk songs from many lands and the popular ballads of our time. If you have an instrument that you play, if you like, you can bring it and accompany the songs we sing. And, when voices combine there is always a special quality that can emerge, if we can keep coming back to a good relaxed place.

David Marrero BA English LIU Brooklyn; MS Education, Adelphi; MA Theatre CUNY Hunter. A retired NYC teacher, background in church and community and school choirs and folk singing, country quartets and duets.

Andrea Cohen Kiener is a rabbi and service leader, trained in chanting and Hebrew liturgy. She is a student Kristin Linklater's Natural Voice method, which encourages us to explore our physical and emotional freedom via voice's vibration in our body. Andrea uses "spontaneous community chorus" to create harmony and cohesion for rituals and other public gatherings.


Artistic Exploration: "On the Edge of the Path",

Apparently insignificant plant and mineral life reveal a cosmos; all that is hidden in the open. An artistic in-depth exploration, through the mediums of water color, ink and pastel.

Rémy Tissier, has exhibited in New York and Europe. In Paris he worked extensively under the guidance of Odette Pauvert, first woman awarded the Prize of Rome for Painting. As a Fine Arts teacher, Rémy won several awards including the Prize for Portraits. His work is acquired by collectors world-wide.




Explore Fencing

This class is aimed at giving people a taste of the spirit and basic techniques involved in today's sport of Modern Olympic Fencing.

It will cover the basic footwork, meaning advancing, retreating, and lunging, and also basic attacks and the spirit behind the philosophy of making feints to execute the attacks. The techniques used in any kind of sword fighting are determined by the type of swords used, meaning, whether the swords are big and heavy or light and fast. In today's Olympic fencing the weapons are light and quick to maneuver. Be prepared for an invigorating workout. Bring sneakers or athletic shoes and loose fitting pants you can stretch in.

Fencing masks and swords, and any other specialized fencing equipment will be supplied as needed. However, you are asked to bring a light cotton jacket that can withstand at least a few light stabs with a sword. Don't worry you will not be hurt. If women's breast protectors are needed we will supply them. Also bring t-shirts to wear under shirts or blouses.

Most of the active fencing experiences you will have will be with the fencing instructor himself. So, for the most part you will be hitting him, not the other way around. Actual fencing with other students will be strictly at the discretion of the instructor and is not the focus of this class.

The basic elements, and the differences between them, for all three modern Olympic Fencing Weapons, Foil, Epee, and Saber, will be covered.

Herb Cohen Member of three U.S. Olympic Fencing Teams (1960, 64, 68) U.S. National Foil Champion 1964 NCAA Fencer of the Year Award for Sportsmanship 1962 Fencing Maitre: NY Fencers Club 1971-72 Head Fencing Coach: New York University 1972 �?1976 NCAA Team Champions 1976 Head Fencing Coach: Stuyvesant High School 1977 �?1988 NYC PSAL Team Champions 6 of 11 seasons, 2nd place 4 times Fencing and Tai Chi instructor from 1970 to the present.