Classes and Workshops

Unless otherwise noted, classes are held at:
The Art of Your Life Studio
At SE 80th between Salmon St. and Taylor Court.
Portland, Oregon

Classes and workshops are small and offer individual attention. To ensure your place, please pay in advance within a week of the workshop date.

Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for Embracing Imperfection and Celebrating Happy Accidents
	Order a signed copy from me and receive in addition a Wabi-Sabi Grab Bag of collage materials for your own creations! Shipping is free within the U.S. For international shipping: Let me know where you are and I'll get back to you asap with the shipping cost.
Coloring Outside the Lines
	Individual art coaching Learning to make art involves learning to see, moving past the inner critic, and accepting what you produce at a given moment. I provide gentle and inspiring coaching and guidance with both the technical and emotional aspects of creating. Media used are: acrylic paint, water based oils, collage, assemblage, and gouache. We go at your pace and free you to find your own style.
The Art of Life Group
	Ongoing Women's Creativity Group Meets one Saturday a month from 1-5 PM. Tuition: 70. per Saturday. Most supplies included. A group for women who want to experiment with art, move through blocks, and share the joys and challenges of the creative process. Each group includes playful activities designed to bypass the inner critic and loosen up inspiration. Spirited art-making produces fun and surprising results! Contact me for more information about joining. Contact Serena for more information/registration.
Mind Your Own Beeswax
	Online Class-go at your own pace. Registration opens mid-September. 45. Register through Creative Workshops at creativeworkshops.ning.com. Fall in love with the luminous sheen of beeswax! This is a perfect class for those new to encaustic. Learn to make encaustic medium and encaustic paint, use collage and photo transfer with encaustic, add 3-D embellishments, and more in this fun and informal class. When you register for this class you'll receive access to six 20 minute lessons and to an accompanying set of pdf handouts.
Group Requests
	If you have a group of 3-5 people who would like to schedule one of these workshops at at my studio, contact me to discuss scheduling options.
Layers of Mystery
	Monday, September 30, 2013 9-4:30 This class will be held at Art and Soul Retreat, Portland OR. See more information at www.artandsoulretreat.com. You’ll learn to create magical collages in an exciting and productive workshop! I’ll guide you through: Mixing luscious layers with re-inkers, acrylic paint, and glaze medium Using alcohol inks, stencils, handwritten text, a variety of papers Three fun methods of adding photo transfers to collage Choosing the best images for your collages Composition tips for making your chosen images pop and for creating a balanced collage Combining paint and papers to add mystery to your pieces Enjoying and building on so called “mistakes” Sealing your collages with a variety of mediums and adding finishing touches All levels welcome and I'll provide lots of individual attention! You'll leave with two or more gorgeous pieces and the knowledge to continue to explore your mystery collage creations at home.
Wabi-Sabi Wax
	Tuesday, October 1, 2013 9-4:30 This workshop is given as part of the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland, Oregon. For more information and registration, see www.artandsoulretreat.com. Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature; of accepting natural cycles. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered, and reveres authenticity above all. We’ll honor ourselves and go with the flow as we create a set of eloquent, mysterious, and gorgeous abstract pieces. The word “abstract” doesn’t have to scare you! I’ll show you how to let delightful accidents lead you to creating with a playful spirit. You’ll discover the magic of beeswax in creating layered and fascinating paintings. You’ll experiment with using oil paint, papers, and ephemera with beeswax to create rich, complex textures. This is a time to enjoy experimenting, adding on and scraping off, and letting your inner free spirit guide you!
Many Windows
	Tuesday, October, 2013 6:30-9:30 This class is held at Art and Soul Retreat, Kansas City. Please go to www.artandsoulretreat.com for more information and to register. Would you believe you can create a whole body of work in one class? You can! You will make about nine tiny, exquisite collages, learning how to use composition, color and theme to create a variety of pieces that blend harmoniously. I will provide individual attention and ideas as desired. You will mount these 3inch square collages on a canvas or wood panel that you have painted or papered to set off your collages. You will leave with your own mini art gallery: a rich, finished work of art.
Papers Wabi-Sabi
	Thursday, October 3, 2013 6:30-9:30 PM This workshop is given as part of the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland, Oregon. For more information and registration, see www.artandsoulretreat.com. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to create gorgeous papers in the wabi-sabi* style. I use my paper cut or torn up for collage, for book covers, and for backgrounds. You can cover boxes with your papers and make 3-D elements with them. You'll use mulberry paper, richly colored re-inkers, alcohol ink, and acrylic paint, used teabags, rubber stamps, bleach and acrylic glaze medium. You'll learn how to make your paper both flexible and strong. You'll leave with a collection of delicious one of a kind art papers! * A Japanese-inspired aesthetic honoring the imperfect, the organic, the subtle, and the seasoned.
Wabi-Sabi Enchantment::Painting, Mixed Media, and Wax
	December 15-21, 2013 This five day workshop will be given at Hacienda Mosaico in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Register through http://www.haciendamosaico.com/ Join me at magical Hacienda Mosaico for five days of creating in a wabi-sabi state of mind! The term wabi-sabi comes from two Japanese words and refers to that which is imperfect, impermanent, aged, humble, and authentic. Wabi-sabi values the passing of time, the seasoning of time and the elements, the handmade and the simple. Wabi-sabi is a state of mind and a state of feeling. I'll give you tools, techniques, and ideas that you can use to enter into the essence of wabi-sabi. More than anything, I'll encourage you to work from your heart. When we make wabi-sabi art we allow the process to unfold and to envelop us in the moment. My key word in art-making is experiment. For our five day workshop we'll experiment with a wide variety of materials and we'll interact with our materials in an intuitive and playful way! I'll show you how to use non-standard art materials, such as tea bags, garment patterns, coffee, and paper towels to enhance your wabi-sabi art. You'll find freedom in adding on, scraping off, incising, and texturing. I'll guide you in embracing imperfection and enjoying happy accidents! You'll leave your wabi-sabi journey with lots of gorgeous paintings and collages, and with new tools and techniques to continue creating with abandon and joy.
Visual Haiku