I'm a City of Ottawa Art teacher...wanna take a course??

This winter I will be teaching at the Nepean Creative Arts Center in Bells Corners, down the street and to the left of the Wallacks on Stafford Road.

Since my interests are many, my skills are pretty varied too. I'm going to list my courses below, but you can get all the information and the registration info from the City of Ottawa Recreation Guide here.

All my classes will be held at the Nepean Creative Arts Center, 35 Stafford Road (Bells Corners) Nepean.


ADULT CLASSES


Paint Your Pet's Portrait
Course Code: 410908
Thursdays Jan 14 - Mar 25
7-9:30pm

Just like it sounds. Bring in a photograph of an animal you wish to paint, your current pet, a deceased pet, a pet you'd love to have, or any animal really that you have an affinity for, and lets try to capture their essential nature on canvas. We'll learn how to see the form, what is essential to convey about this creature and how to transfer from a photo to a canvas. It will be necessary to talk about what to do with all that space around the main character as well, so thinking about the backgrounds will also be part of this class.


Drawing and Acrylic Painting for Beginners
Course Code: 410890
Wednesdays 7-9:30pm
Jan 13 - Mar 24

We'll explore drawing techniques, composition and design. From this start we will create the foundation of what we will paint. Using our drawings for the basis of our painting compositions we will then transition to acrylic paints learning about colour and design as we progress.


Print, Paint and Draw
Course Code: 410843
Fridays 7-9:30pm
Jan 15 - Mar 26

Combine drawing, printmaking and painting to make mixed media works that challenge the maker to go in directions they never considered before. The combination of these media will bring about unexpected results. We will work with found objects, collage, monoprints, collagraphs, drawing and painting mediums to create out work.



Taking a Line For a Walk
Course Code: 410901
Wednesdays 1:30-4 pm
Jan 13 - Mar 24

Understand the simplicity and complexity of drawing a line. Study the characteristics, expressive qualities and types of line through various exercises and different mediums such as charcoal, ink, and graphite.


Fresh Start For Your Artwork
Course Code: 410896
Fridays 1:30-4 pm
Jan 15 - Mar 26

Learn from your previous beginnings or completed works of art in any medium. Through sharing artwork with other artists, participants learn to improve aspects of design, colour, composition, technique and communication.

ADULT & CHILD CLASSES

These two courses are for "the pair of you". One adult (19 yrs to 99+ yrs) plus one child.
In each class you will interact with each other, as for both classes the hands of the adult may be needed to help out the young one, and/or the young one will spur the adult on with their free thinking. It should be mutually beneficial for the two of you and the group as whole.

Registration for these courses is made separately ie. the adult registers themselves and the child is registered under a different code.



Stop Motion Video with Puppets *Two workshops offered this winter*
(Adult + 1 Child between the age of 9-12)

Jan 16 - Feb 13 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 410879
Course Code Adult: 410869
Saturdays 10am -12 pm

also

Feb 20 - Mar 27 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 410882
Course Code Adult: 410885
Saturdays 10 am-12 pm

We will start by creating our characters from scratch using simple wire armature for the basic body shape. To this we will add sponge for flesh and muscle and nylon to cover the form and make a skin. We will then use fabrics to create the clothing (or the pelt if it's an animal or a bird or an alien) and to bring out details of the character. Once the posable puppets are created we will give them a home by making a backdrop for them to move within. Paper, cardboard and found objects will complete this scene. From here the class will be dedicated to shooting the frames to create our short animation. We may have time to create individual films or it may be a class collaboration. This will be decided as the class progresses.


Funky Plastic Jewelry *Two workshops offered this winter*
(Adult + 1 Child between the age of 9-12)

Jan 16 - Feb 13 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 411059
Course Code Adult: 411071
Saturdays 1-3 pm

also

Feb 20 - Mar 27 5 week workshop

Course Code Child: 411084
Course Code Adult: 411o77
Saturdays 1-3 pm

I will be teaching two forms of plastic jewelry: friendly plastic and shrink plastic. Each of these mediums use different artistic skills, painting and drawing for the shrink art and sculpting for the friendly plastic. We will make brooches, magnets, earrings, bracelets and/or anklets. Plastic has been my life for almost 20 years. Let me show you what I know. Guaranteed to be a hoot.

Stop-Motion Animation - Part 1

Graeme Patterson is a Canadian artist who is the featured visiting artist at the Ottawa School of Art this year. His specialty is stop-motion animation and installations using the films he creates set into the very elaborate sets he makes. His show opened last night at the school. I was so excited to see his films. They are very charming and I was extra excited because he is teaching a workshop on how to do what he does.... so very happy to learn this... feeling very lucky...!

Today we started a two day workshop on how to make your own puppet and stop-action animation. I have wanted to do this forever, so I signed up as soon as the list went up.

Step 1 : wire form with duct tape at hip joint and shoulder joints, one hand attached with extra long fingers

Our figures were made of wire, foam, fabric (pantyhose and your choice of cloth for clothing, feathers used for hair or fur if making an animal), glue from a glue gun.

It's messy and you burn your fingers often. I am used to this method of working because of the friendly plastic I have used for years, so it didn't bother me at all, but was annoying at times because it takes longer to cool down than FP does. I also used cardboard for the soles of the sandals.


Step 2: adding foam to bulk up the frame using a glue gun to attache pieces as well as forming the hands with the glue

The whole character was put together with only a glue gun and some foam over the basic wire frame.

Skin is created by stretching pantyhose over the foam and attaching it with the glue gun. Seams are really visible but it doesn't seem to matter. If added delineation is needed for the face or the muscles you put glue gun glue into the area and wet a finger and press the shape you need into the glue. It pushes its way through the nylon and then holds the shape. Everyone had a few times where there fingers got burnt and a few of us even had blisters. We suffered for our art.

Step 3: Here I am attaching the nylon to the foam. I gave my man a manly chest.

Here is my completed character: front, two sides and back. Mesh shirt, swim trunks, sandals. All the joints move and you can position every part of the body. It's very sturdy.


Tomorrow we will add small details to our puppets, painting the face and hands. After we finish our puppets we move on to learn what's involved in creating a 4 second animation.

I cannot wait.

He told us to think of a little body movement our character can do, like a little dance, and then we will animate that into a never ending loop.

My guy is full of possibility.

We will also attempt to build a simple set for our characters from foam core and another type of foam that looked like a type of building material... it was blue... Hopefully I'll have an animation to post tomorrow (!) but it may take a day or two.