Class Schedule January-April 2025

NEW! Abstracted Winter Landscapes and Still Lifes | January 22 | IN-PERSON

Create rich vignettes loaded with winter colors and layered shapes. View a variety of landscape and still life works for compositional ideas, then make multiple sketches before choosing one or two to fully develop. Work in a variety of media including charcoal, colored pencil, watercolor, and drawing pens. Feel free to bring your own images for inspiration and come ready to experiment with color layering, patterns and textures.

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Meditative Botanical Drawing | February 1 | IN-PERSON

Join local art instructor Dana DuMont in this three-hour workshop perfect for relieving stress and anxiety during these uncertain times.  Use nature as your inspiration to design complex, imaginative images with repeated organic lines and shapes.  Working with graphite, watercolor and colored pencils, a calming session awaits you as you create small works suitable for framing.

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NEW! Introduction to Basic Drawing | February 21 OR February 22 OR March 8 | IN-PERSON

Discover your artistic potential and ignite your passion for drawing with our Introduction to Basic Drawing workshop! Learn to turn a simple line into a three-dimensional drawing with pencil and paper, and embark on a journey of self-expression and artistic growth. Play with different mark-making techniques and learn how to integrate basic elements of art like shape, space and form into your drawing. When you draw regularly, you can improve your brain function, enhance your memory and calm your mind, improving your physical and mental health. Instructors Claudette and Stephey Baker, who believe that anyone can master drawing, will inspire you to take your pencil to the page. Beginners seeking to capture nature’s beauty will benefit from this workshop, but there will be something for all levels and all are welcome.

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NEW! Spring Ceramic Luminaries | March 5, 12 | IN-PERSON

Light up your season with hand-built spring garden-inspired luminaries. We’ll cut, coil, piece and glaze clay to create unique votive candle holders that are full of whimsy. These luminaries are a beautiful addition to your fairy or gnome village, front porch or your dining room table! All supplies are provided. If you have leaf stamps you would like to use on the clay, feel free to bring them along.

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NEW! Watercolor Experimentation and Card-Making | March 13, 27 | IN-PERSON

Using watercolor paintings, experiments, and doodles, make unique and expressive notecards that you can give to loved ones or cherish as artistic keepsakes with artist Shelley Row. On the first workshop day we will play with watercolor techniques to hone your skills through experimentation, creating colorful practice pieces. On day two, we will use what we learned on day one plus a few more tricks to create unique and personal cards. You will be encouraged to make up your own directions, use your individual style, and push the creative envelope. With so much of our communication happening online now, there’s something extra special about sending and receiving a card through the mail. This is a great workshop to sign up for with friends!

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NEW! Painting Florals with Gouache | March 14 | IN-PERSON

Gouache (pronounced “goo-wash”) is a versatile water soluble paint that can be applied in opaque layers like acrylic paint, or thinned with water and applied in transparent layers like watercolor. The best part about this medium is that it can be “reawakened” with water to make adjustments or create smooth blends between colors. Gouache can be used on any absorbent surface, but works beautifully on thick watercolor paper. In this spring-centered one-day workshop, you will be guided step-by-step to create a gouache painting of vibrant freshly-cut flowers. You’ll follow the instructor’s live hands-on demonstration as you create your own initial sketch, lay down the underpainting layers, add vibrant colors, and polish off your piece with details. At the end of the session, you’ll have the option to share what you have created with your classmates. All workshop participants can expect to finish the class with their completed floral painting, and one of the fresh flowers. This is a great workshop for anyone interested in trying out gouache for the first time, for experienced artists looking for a refresher, or for anyone creative who loves spring flowers! Though detailed instruction and hands-on guidance will be offered, each student will choose their own unique view of the flowers, and all styles and skill levels are welcomed.

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Pressed Flower Floating Frames | March 15 | IN-PERSON

In this creative workshop, cultivate appreciation for the history of the ancient pressed-flower art form with instructor Conner Parrish of Blossoming Roots Farm and Supply, a local farm in Ashland. After diving into the history of pressed flower art, we’ll create a stunning pressed flower glass floating frame using a 5×7 black glass-on-glass floating frame and real pressed flowers from the farm. The floating frame you design and take home with you will be totally unique, as no two frames are ever alike!

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NEW! Next Steps Watercolor Endeavors | April 9, 16, 23, 30 | IN-PERSON

Have you taken one, (or more!!) of the beginning watercolor classes? Learn new tips, techniques, and tricks. Build on the skills you have acquired. Always inspired by the Garden, you will experiment with color, try new brush techniques, and play with some new media. All supplies will be provided and the materials are also “next steps”! The only expectation is that you are familiar with the most basic techniques which have been introduced in the beginning classes. I am excited to see you and to approach watercolor painting with a creative spirit!

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For creative workshops where you can use live plants to make plant creations to take home, check out our Plant Play: Make and Take Workshops learning category!