2012 Educational Art Workshops from the Arts Alliance

~ Watermedia Batik: a Mixed Media Approach ~

April 21-22, 2012
Instructor: Helen Shafer Garcia

Held at St. Anthony Retreat in Three Rivers, from 10-4 pm each day

Create mixed media paintings, exploring a special batik look technique with Japanese Masa rice paper mounted on canvas. The “dropped-in color” watercolor technique process will be investigated on the Masa paper support with a variety of watermedia hues. This method involves hue fusion, allowing the water to move color on the paper surface to create interesting values changes, color mixtures, and textures. Colored pencils, ink lines and collage elements will be added to embellish the shapes. The artwork will be sealed with an acrylic varnish to protect the surface, producing an alternative to expensive framing methods.

For a materials fee*, the instructor will provide:

• Masa paper
• acrylics, acrylic mediums
• varnish

Suggested supply list to bring with you:

• Brushes: 
1 or more round watercolor brushes: #12, #10, or #8 
½ inch or larger flat acrylic brush for collage and varnish
2 or more small primed canvases, 12 x 16 or smaller
• 
Watercolors: pan or personal palette
• Collage materials: translucent decorative papers-white, off white to collage, stamp words
• Small ephemera stuff like canceled stamps, small images, etc.
• Close up images/photos of plants and animals for reference
• Acrylic Matt medium
water container
• #2b soft pencil and soft eraser
• 
permanent nk pen-black or dark color 
colored pencils
• Optional:
 Nature themed rubber stamps
Small alphabet stamps sets
• Solvent based stamp pads (Instructor will bring stamp pads to share also)

About the Instructor:
Helen Shafer Garcia is a painter, mixed media, found object and assemblage artist and award winning illustrator. Her whimsical style shows a love for living creatively with a studio filled to the brim with found objects! She is currently working with watercolor, pastel and mixed media creating contemporary images on paper along with a series of Icon folklore triptychs with wood, watermedia and found object construction.

Helen’s watercolor illustrations have graced the cover brochures, garden articlesand advertisements of numerous International resorts and magazines. Awards include four San Diego Press Club First Place Awards of Excellence in Illustration for San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine.

Helen holds a BA degree in Fine Arts and currently teaches college level watercolor and acrylic painting at Palomar College, San Marcos, CA. She also teaches mixed media workshops internationally and across the USA. She lives in Vista, California.

Artist Website: helenshafergarcia.com

Artist Blog: agavelatte.blogspot.com

Registration Information:

Download Registration Form
Call 559-561-4671 for more information.
Email Workshop Chair
$165 for Arts Alliance Members, $215 for non-members
Fee includes lunch, provided by St. Anthony Retreat

*$15 materials fee paid at the time of the workshop to the instructor.

Add $25 for registration after the earlybird deadline of April 7, 2012.
Refund, minus $25 administration fee, for cancellation made by April 7, 2012

[all artwork on this page © Helen Shafer Garcia]