Tag: Watercolor

This program is currently full. To be added to the wait list, please email programs@smithcenter.org.

  • By registering above, you will be registered for all five sessions.
  • Participants are highly encouraged to attend all of the sessions.
  • Registration will be closed at 8 participants.

with artist & sculptor Liz Lescault

Exploring the Magic of Watercolor

This five session watercolor series will introduce participants to both basic and advanced techniques and is designed for both novices and more seasoned watercolorists. The emphasis will be on wet on wet techniques for spontaneous and atmospheric effects. The first session will involve understanding the nature of watercolor paint as well as an introduction to color theory and watercolor application. Following sessions will delve into a wide variety of special techniques for painting watercolor landscapes.  

Please bring inspirations for your paintings to class with you.  Come with your ideas, your explorations of nature, images or other art that inspires you. You may choose to be inspired by things offered in the session or by your own inspirations or a combination of both.

Techniques will be introduced in an easeful way and we will discover how to let paintings emerge from our experimentation.

This series will not only be about making art but the different ways we experience art and how it affects us. We will explore both the process and the product of the art we create, integrating playful sharing into our art making experience.

Program Dates:

  • Thursday, January 4, 11, 18 & 25
  • Thursday, February 1

Suggested Donation: $45 for series

Suggested Materials*:

Below are some suggested supplies from Cheap Joes www.cheapjoes.com(my favorite place to purchase art supplies – prices are generally 40% off store prices and are of high quality). High quality watercolor supplies are needed to achieve many watercolor effects. Your favorite watercolor supplies may work just as well.

About Liz Lescault

Liz Lescault

Liz Lescault, a visual artist and sculptor, has practiced and taught art for over 40 years. Liz is also a Coordinator of the DC InterPlay Metro Region, a certified InterPlay leader and a member of the DC InterPlay Board. She leads Open Gathering days for InterPlay DC and organizes and leads workshops regionally and nationally online and in person. Liz has been leading Art Lab both for Smith Center for the Healing Arts, for the Phillips Collection and for InterPlay internationally.

Formerly, Liz, was a hotline crisis counselor, for various suicide prevention lifelines and The Trevor Project providing help for LGBTQ youth in crisis and the Prince Georges County Homeless Hotline.

Liz has also led InterPlay for elders with chronic illness and cognitive disabilities at Iona Senior Center in Washington DC.

Liz melds her art, teaching, guidance and personal philosophy with InterPlay wisdom, tools and forms.

B.S., Psychology, Drew University, Madison, NJ

M.Ed., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, British Techniques of Open Education

Studied watercolor at WICE, an international educational and cultural association in Paris, France

https://www.lizlescault.com/home

This program has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled for a later date. 

with Liz Carren

This workshop will help you understand that by using your inner strength – your instincts – your courage – your “Dragons!” – and your imagination – you can find your inner strength to help you heal from the stresses that illness has created for all that are surrounded by it.

We will use quick timeouts of meditation(s) quietness for our minds and then use the ART you create as your muse, outlet, and expression. Fast projects will help to learn and experience how to “let it out” and let it go…. Ultimately, each participant will have a paper representation of the experience.

It’s fun, and no art background is needed. No need to be “an artist” -it’s free form, and no experience in art, painting or drawing is required or needed. All you need is yourself and an open mind.

The purpose of this workshop is to get used to thinking about what you feel in visual ways. Metaphors of colors, shapes, things, words, whatever! Having an outlet is essential –Dance, Music, Writing, “art,” whatever you choose is fine– I select drawing! In this workshop, we do two art projects/activities. The first uses watercolor for its freeing – and no one has to feel like they need to be a painter for our activity. Watercolor can go on the paper and do its own thing – with you as its guide. The second art project is using a continuous line at first, then addinI more lines, and maybe even color -scribbling to see what comes up and out.

We will look at our art pieces and discuss/chat/talk about feelings and fears that the drawings express and what we see in our art, but also, importantly- what others may see we may be missing. We will touch on fears, and the language we use to talk to ourselves and others, and how it can affect us.

Depending on how many participants want to share –  how many of us there are, and how much people want to share,  this workshop will be about 2 hours.

Suggested Materials:

  • Watercolor paper (6-8 sheets – of any size size)
  • Watercolor set … below are from https://www.michaels.com/search?q=watercolor
  • Sharpie-like-pen (preferably NOT Ultra fine point- a “regular” one would be easier to use/see )
  • Plain white paper

Suggested Donation: $10

About Liz Carren

I am a regular woman, artist, and a cancer patient/warrior survivor/thriver. Images and imagination got me to where I am today. During treatments, I started using visualizations to create my art. I began digging into the connection between creativity and healing. Art helped me sort out and understand what was happening in my body and life. I still use art for that purpose. I continue to create and run a small business called Caring Arts: The Intersection of Art, Medicine, and Healing. I create drawings as my journal and a “sorting” of my present life. I teach workshops on using creativity for stress release and to help overcome the fears of the unknown, Cancer -and otherwise. I give seminars on how art helped heal me. I also sell The Cancer Courage Card deck – 48 cards of positive life-affirming thoughts and prompts for discussion and journaling. I know that art is a powerful and courageous tool. I am lucky and living proof that art can help heal.

Social media: https://www.instagram.com/caring_artist/

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Martina Sestakova

Insightful Collage Watercolor Workshop

Join art educator Martina Sestakova for a workshop, during which you get to create a unique collage. We will learn about basic watercolor techniques and explore ideas behind colors, shapes, and textures. As a result, we will create a deeply meaningful collage through a fun creative process.

No experience is needed: just your curious self!

 

Suggested Materials:

  • 2 sheets of watercolor paper (9″ x 12″)
  • Thin strips of watercolor paper (e.g., 9″ x 12″ cut up into strips that are .1″ x 12″, have about 15 strips on hand)
  • 1 cup for water
  • 1 watercolor paints (tray or tubes)
  • Glue stick (school glue)
  • 1 pencil or pen
  • Paper for notes

Suggested Donation: $10

About Martina Sestakova

Martina Sestakova

Martina Sestakova (owner at RADOST) engages in textile design, painting, and art education. Martina creates scarves that invoke stories of life experiences. Her scarves have been featured on Voice of America and at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (DC). In her paintings on yupo, she communicates words through colors and shapes. Her artworks have been shown at the Adah Rose Gallery (MD) and Latela Curatorial (DC) and other art institutions. As an art educator, Martina offers workshops and brings creativity to the public and communities with limited access to the arts. Martina Sestakova resides in Kensington, MD.