WORKSHOPS WILL BE HELD ONLINE,
UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE IN THE DESCRIPTION,
To register for a workshop, click the "REGISTER" link below the title.
Sign up for the mailing list to be notified of new workshops.
Contact us at blackpondstudio@gmail.com with questions.
Workshops are listed in chronological order.
Scroll down for complete listings.
UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE IN THE DESCRIPTION,
To register for a workshop, click the "REGISTER" link below the title.
Sign up for the mailing list to be notified of new workshops.
Contact us at blackpondstudio@gmail.com with questions.
Workshops are listed in chronological order.
Scroll down for complete listings.
THE HEAD IN THE MIRROR
WITH JOE MORZUCH
Five weekly meetings
SATURDAYS
February 5
February 12
February 19
February 26
March 5, 2022
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Painting one’s reflected likeness is a strange and wonderful experience. It requires focus, patience, and the courage to look deeply at and within. With this workshop, participants will investigate the technical and conceptual challenges of painting self-portrait heads from direct observation. Referencing the work of historical and contemporary painters, participants will complete multiple works over the course of 5 weeks, guided by specific prompts and/or formal limitations. Each subsequent exercise will advance the concerns addressed the week before, resulting in an accumulated understanding of the complexities of painting a self-portrait from direct observation. Topics covered will include: the general structure and proportions of the human head, light, shadow, and tonality, form simplification and planar analysis, color temperature and intensity, and an exploration of various painting implements.
Workshop will be held on Zoom, and work will be shared on Padlet.
Five weekly meetings
SATURDAYS
February 5
February 12
February 19
February 26
March 5, 2022
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Painting one’s reflected likeness is a strange and wonderful experience. It requires focus, patience, and the courage to look deeply at and within. With this workshop, participants will investigate the technical and conceptual challenges of painting self-portrait heads from direct observation. Referencing the work of historical and contemporary painters, participants will complete multiple works over the course of 5 weeks, guided by specific prompts and/or formal limitations. Each subsequent exercise will advance the concerns addressed the week before, resulting in an accumulated understanding of the complexities of painting a self-portrait from direct observation. Topics covered will include: the general structure and proportions of the human head, light, shadow, and tonality, form simplification and planar analysis, color temperature and intensity, and an exploration of various painting implements.
Workshop will be held on Zoom, and work will be shared on Padlet.
COLLAGE AFTER MASTERS
WITH ROTEM AMIZUR
March 18-22, 2022
Friday-Tuesday
ONLINE WORKSHOP We will begin by painting papers with colors that excite us. Then, looking at old masters’ paintings, we will choose hues that create a sensation equivalent to what is evoked by them. Working only with our pre-painted papers helps us find unexpected color combinations. We look for relationships that feel good as opposed to "mixing the colors out there." Once colors are chosen and satisfying to us, we can dive into the continuous cycle of building, overlapping, changing and moving the cutout shapes — thus experiencing painting, drawing, observation, and invention as inseparable.
We will work small, with foam board and pins, pinning the cut-out shapes as we go along. Pinning as opposed to immediately gluing gives us a chance to constantly move shapes around. Making a variation, then another and another... Each new combination of colors leads us to see the reproduction in a new way — memory and familiarity making the game even more exciting and giving us the courage to make decisions we wouldn’t have dreamed of in the beginning. We are using the masters as our source but creating something distinctly personal and our own.
We will use Zoom to meet as as group, view image presentations, and discuss work shared on Padlet.
March 18-22, 2022
Friday-Tuesday
ONLINE WORKSHOP We will begin by painting papers with colors that excite us. Then, looking at old masters’ paintings, we will choose hues that create a sensation equivalent to what is evoked by them. Working only with our pre-painted papers helps us find unexpected color combinations. We look for relationships that feel good as opposed to "mixing the colors out there." Once colors are chosen and satisfying to us, we can dive into the continuous cycle of building, overlapping, changing and moving the cutout shapes — thus experiencing painting, drawing, observation, and invention as inseparable.
We will work small, with foam board and pins, pinning the cut-out shapes as we go along. Pinning as opposed to immediately gluing gives us a chance to constantly move shapes around. Making a variation, then another and another... Each new combination of colors leads us to see the reproduction in a new way — memory and familiarity making the game even more exciting and giving us the courage to make decisions we wouldn’t have dreamed of in the beginning. We are using the masters as our source but creating something distinctly personal and our own.
We will use Zoom to meet as as group, view image presentations, and discuss work shared on Padlet.
ON YOUR MARKS
WITH MAUREEN NATHAN
March 25-27, 2022
Friday-Sunday
ONLINE WORKSHOP. This drawing workshop is about freeing up expectations and engaging in the process of discovery. Participants will undertake various exercises with the aim of generating unexpected and compelling outcomes, as well as finding the drawing vocabulary unique to each artist. This workshop is especially helpful to artists who feel they are becoming stylized in their approach and is equally suitable for those new to drawing.
March 25-27, 2022
Friday-Sunday
ONLINE WORKSHOP. This drawing workshop is about freeing up expectations and engaging in the process of discovery. Participants will undertake various exercises with the aim of generating unexpected and compelling outcomes, as well as finding the drawing vocabulary unique to each artist. This workshop is especially helpful to artists who feel they are becoming stylized in their approach and is equally suitable for those new to drawing.
SUMMER'S END
WITH NANCY McCARTHY
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
ON SITE AT BLACK POND
(fully vaccinated only)
September 24-26, 2021
Friday-Sunday
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
As summer’s abundance fades and the quiet of autumn begins, we will observe and paint the complex landscape. Our focus will be summarizing this complexity into distinct shapes of value and hue. A series of exercises with large brushes and palette knives will encourage this process, and a one-session painting will be completed each day. we will also view contemporary and historical landscape painters and discuss the issues, tools and procedures unique to painting outdoors. This workshop will energize those who have painted outdoors many times as well as introduce this adventure to those doing so for the first time. Water based or oil paint may be used.
Lunch is included in the price of the workshop.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
ON SITE AT BLACK POND
(fully vaccinated only)
September 24-26, 2021
Friday-Sunday
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
As summer’s abundance fades and the quiet of autumn begins, we will observe and paint the complex landscape. Our focus will be summarizing this complexity into distinct shapes of value and hue. A series of exercises with large brushes and palette knives will encourage this process, and a one-session painting will be completed each day. we will also view contemporary and historical landscape painters and discuss the issues, tools and procedures unique to painting outdoors. This workshop will energize those who have painted outdoors many times as well as introduce this adventure to those doing so for the first time. Water based or oil paint may be used.
Lunch is included in the price of the workshop.
THE SPACES WE LIVE IN
WITH CLINTEL STEED
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
October 8-12, 2021
Friday-Tuesday
This ONLINE workshop will investigate the approach of the Nabis, specifically Vuillard and Bonnard. We will look at how these painters turned their home environments into personal narratives. Our own domestic spaces, in which we were quarantined, and the mundane objects around us, will be our subject matter. Painting strictly from observation will free us to investigate how our own space relates to geometry and the rectangle. We will concentrate on structure (perspective, scale, and relationships) while considering color and light. Our challenge will be to look at our own living spaces to see how they can become meaningful through the act of painting.
There will be three meetings per day on Zoom. Work will be shared on an online platform.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
October 8-12, 2021
Friday-Tuesday
This ONLINE workshop will investigate the approach of the Nabis, specifically Vuillard and Bonnard. We will look at how these painters turned their home environments into personal narratives. Our own domestic spaces, in which we were quarantined, and the mundane objects around us, will be our subject matter. Painting strictly from observation will free us to investigate how our own space relates to geometry and the rectangle. We will concentrate on structure (perspective, scale, and relationships) while considering color and light. Our challenge will be to look at our own living spaces to see how they can become meaningful through the act of painting.
There will be three meetings per day on Zoom. Work will be shared on an online platform.
PAINTERS PAINTING
WITH JENNIFER POCHINSKI
OCTOBER 22-26, 2021
Friday-Tuesday
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
When you give up on the idea of right and wrong, you get rid of everything — freedom from ideas and responsibilities. — Agnes Martin
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Participants will meet daily on Zoom over the course of five days. There will be slide presentations as well as demos that illustrate the focus for the day. Exercises will be introduced in the meeting each morning. Participants will post their work on Padlet and will have group feedback in the afternoon/evening.
Exploration and discovery are the main objectives for the course. The exercises will be based both from life and from photo sources.
OCTOBER 22-26, 2021
Friday-Tuesday
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
When you give up on the idea of right and wrong, you get rid of everything — freedom from ideas and responsibilities. — Agnes Martin
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Participants will meet daily on Zoom over the course of five days. There will be slide presentations as well as demos that illustrate the focus for the day. Exercises will be introduced in the meeting each morning. Participants will post their work on Padlet and will have group feedback in the afternoon/evening.
Exploration and discovery are the main objectives for the course. The exercises will be based both from life and from photo sources.
TRANSCRIBING ITALIAN MASTERS
WITH LUCY MacGILLIS
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five meetings
WEDNESDAYS
September 29
October 6
October 13
October 20
October 27
2021
11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Eastern time, US and Canada
In this intensive ONLINE course painters will look closely at 500 year old Italian masterpieces, investigating just what it is about them that is so timelessly captivating. Using the method of transcription, we will draw from these paintings each morning without copying them, but searching for the brilliant uses of rhythm, duality and repetition within the geometry of these compositions. From Masaccio to Benozzo Gozzolli, Lippi, Sebastiano del Piombo, and concluding with Michelangelo, we will explore a specific painting at length on paper and in a group discussion over Zoom. Participants will also create a painting sketch to better grasp the use of color in that day's masterpiece.
Each participant will receive a kit in the mail, prior to the course, containing the prints of the five paintings we will transcribe as well as paper measured in proportion to the works. There will also be primed Fabriano paper provided for afternoon painting studies. The cost of the supplied materials is included in the workshop fee.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five meetings
WEDNESDAYS
September 29
October 6
October 13
October 20
October 27
2021
11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Eastern time, US and Canada
In this intensive ONLINE course painters will look closely at 500 year old Italian masterpieces, investigating just what it is about them that is so timelessly captivating. Using the method of transcription, we will draw from these paintings each morning without copying them, but searching for the brilliant uses of rhythm, duality and repetition within the geometry of these compositions. From Masaccio to Benozzo Gozzolli, Lippi, Sebastiano del Piombo, and concluding with Michelangelo, we will explore a specific painting at length on paper and in a group discussion over Zoom. Participants will also create a painting sketch to better grasp the use of color in that day's masterpiece.
Each participant will receive a kit in the mail, prior to the course, containing the prints of the five paintings we will transcribe as well as paper measured in proportion to the works. There will also be primed Fabriano paper provided for afternoon painting studies. The cost of the supplied materials is included in the workshop fee.
THE FIGURE: DRAWING AND PAINTING
WITH CATHERINE KEHOE
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five meetings
MONDAYS
2-6 p.m. Eastern time, US and Canada
November 1
November 8
November 15
November 22,
November 29, 2021
The figure attracts our attention more than any other subject. In this ONLINE workshop, we will work from images of models in specific lighting conditions. You will learn a drawing method that results in accuracy of proportion, an approach that is a way of looking and seeing, not a style. With practice, this method leads to an intuitive, personal balance between accuracy and individual voice. Exercises will explore line, shape, value, and color. Oil paint is the recommended medium. We will meet on Zoom and share the work in an online album.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five meetings
MONDAYS
2-6 p.m. Eastern time, US and Canada
November 1
November 8
November 15
November 22,
November 29, 2021
The figure attracts our attention more than any other subject. In this ONLINE workshop, we will work from images of models in specific lighting conditions. You will learn a drawing method that results in accuracy of proportion, an approach that is a way of looking and seeing, not a style. With practice, this method leads to an intuitive, personal balance between accuracy and individual voice. Exercises will explore line, shape, value, and color. Oil paint is the recommended medium. We will meet on Zoom and share the work in an online album.
LIGHT AND TIME
WITH STEPHANIE PIERCE
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five weekly meetings.
TUESDAYS
November 2
November 9
November 16
November 23
November 30
1:00-4:30 p.m. eastern time, US and Canada
ONLINE WORKSHOP
In this painting workshop, students will explore light, time, and underlying geometry. Subjects lit by natural and artificial light will be painted from direct observation. Formal strategies such as reductive drawing, use of the grid, and collage will be investigated. Projects will examine color as light to create compositions that amplify aspects of the subject. As Giacometti said, “The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”
Participants will work on a larger, ongoing painting throughout the five weeks, accompanied by smaller one-session works each week. Emphasis will be on keeping the work open, letting go of preconceived outcomes, and responding to weekly prompts. Reflecting on your work through writing will also be part of the process. Prior painting experience working from observation is recommended. Oil paint is the suggested medium.
Meetings will be held on Zoom, and work will be shared on an online platform.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five weekly meetings.
TUESDAYS
November 2
November 9
November 16
November 23
November 30
1:00-4:30 p.m. eastern time, US and Canada
ONLINE WORKSHOP
In this painting workshop, students will explore light, time, and underlying geometry. Subjects lit by natural and artificial light will be painted from direct observation. Formal strategies such as reductive drawing, use of the grid, and collage will be investigated. Projects will examine color as light to create compositions that amplify aspects of the subject. As Giacometti said, “The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”
Participants will work on a larger, ongoing painting throughout the five weeks, accompanied by smaller one-session works each week. Emphasis will be on keeping the work open, letting go of preconceived outcomes, and responding to weekly prompts. Reflecting on your work through writing will also be part of the process. Prior painting experience working from observation is recommended. Oil paint is the suggested medium.
Meetings will be held on Zoom, and work will be shared on an online platform.
THE ITALIAN NOVECENTO
WITH LUCY MacGILLIS
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
November 12-14, 2021
Friday-Sunday
In this intensive three day ONLINE class, we will study the Italian Novecento, focusing on the works of three protagonists, Felice Casorati, Giorgio Morandi and Fausto Pirandello. After an art historical introduction to each painter and the context in which they were working, we will transcribe from a painting of theirs. Initially with a pencil and paper we will explore the composition, looking how and rhythm and duality are used create depth in each painting. In the second half of each day we will use oil paint to study the specific color relationships in these pieces and practice mixing paint.
Participants will receive a small packet in the mail prior to the class containing prints of the paintings we will be studying, Fabriano drawing paper measured with the proportional dimensions of the original as well as primed paper for painting the color study. The cost of supplied materials is included in the workshop fee.
Italy-based Lucy MacGillis enjoys sharing her knowledge of Italian art history from the perspective of a painter rather than that of a historian.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
November 12-14, 2021
Friday-Sunday
In this intensive three day ONLINE class, we will study the Italian Novecento, focusing on the works of three protagonists, Felice Casorati, Giorgio Morandi and Fausto Pirandello. After an art historical introduction to each painter and the context in which they were working, we will transcribe from a painting of theirs. Initially with a pencil and paper we will explore the composition, looking how and rhythm and duality are used create depth in each painting. In the second half of each day we will use oil paint to study the specific color relationships in these pieces and practice mixing paint.
Participants will receive a small packet in the mail prior to the class containing prints of the paintings we will be studying, Fabriano drawing paper measured with the proportional dimensions of the original as well as primed paper for painting the color study. The cost of supplied materials is included in the workshop fee.
Italy-based Lucy MacGillis enjoys sharing her knowledge of Italian art history from the perspective of a painter rather than that of a historian.
LINEAGE INTO PAINT
WITH CATHERINE KEHOE
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five weekly meetings
WEDNESDAYS
December 1, 2021
December 8, 2021
December 15, 2021
December 22, 2021
December 29, 2021
2-6 p.m. Eastern time, US and Canada
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Photos of ancestors — those we have known in life and those we can know only from the images — will be the sources for this workshop. These photos might trigger a narrative, imaginary or real. We might begin with an impulse for detail and description, a desire to imagine those we can know in no other way. The ultimate goal will be reduction and a search for how much is enough. By analyzing the images as designs in a rectangle, breaking down the pictorial elements through simplification and abstraction, we will build drawings and paintings that stand on their own. Mediums will include graphite, collage, acrylic and/or oil paint.
We will meet on Zoom and share the work in an online platform.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Five weekly meetings
WEDNESDAYS
December 1, 2021
December 8, 2021
December 15, 2021
December 22, 2021
December 29, 2021
2-6 p.m. Eastern time, US and Canada
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Photos of ancestors — those we have known in life and those we can know only from the images — will be the sources for this workshop. These photos might trigger a narrative, imaginary or real. We might begin with an impulse for detail and description, a desire to imagine those we can know in no other way. The ultimate goal will be reduction and a search for how much is enough. By analyzing the images as designs in a rectangle, breaking down the pictorial elements through simplification and abstraction, we will build drawings and paintings that stand on their own. Mediums will include graphite, collage, acrylic and/or oil paint.
We will meet on Zoom and share the work in an online platform.
THE THIRD DOOR
WITH NANCY GRUSKIN
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
January 14-16, 2022
Friday-Sunday
ONLINE MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOP. American artist Robert Zakanitch has described ornamentation as “the third door,” an alternative entry to painting from representation and abstraction. This three-day workshop will explore ornamentation and
pattern-making through collage, paint, and paper. We will begin on Friday with a slide presentation on the role of pattern in 20th- and 21st-century art. Morning Zoom meetings on Saturday and Sunday will include warm-up exercises and introduce assignments for the day. We will then reassemble on Zoom in the evening for group feedback and discussion. Participants will share their work on an online platform. The emphasis will be on experimentation and discovering new processes.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
January 14-16, 2022
Friday-Sunday
ONLINE MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOP. American artist Robert Zakanitch has described ornamentation as “the third door,” an alternative entry to painting from representation and abstraction. This three-day workshop will explore ornamentation and
pattern-making through collage, paint, and paper. We will begin on Friday with a slide presentation on the role of pattern in 20th- and 21st-century art. Morning Zoom meetings on Saturday and Sunday will include warm-up exercises and introduce assignments for the day. We will then reassemble on Zoom in the evening for group feedback and discussion. Participants will share their work on an online platform. The emphasis will be on experimentation and discovering new processes.
PAINTING RESET
WITH JENNIFER POCHINSKI
January 28-February 1
Friday-Tuesday
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
“If you want to have clean ideas, change them like shirts” — Francis Picabia
The objective for the course is to find new perspectives through short exercises. Exploration and discovery are the goal in working from life-- objects or self-portraits. Most work will be carried out on paper or on top of old paintings. Participants may work on any scale.
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Participants will meet daily on Zoom over the course of five days. There will be slide presentations as well as demos that illustrate the focus for the day. Exercises will be introduced in the meeting each morning. Participants will post their work on Padlet and will have group feedback in the afternoon/evening.
January 28-February 1
Friday-Tuesday
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
“If you want to have clean ideas, change them like shirts” — Francis Picabia
The objective for the course is to find new perspectives through short exercises. Exploration and discovery are the goal in working from life-- objects or self-portraits. Most work will be carried out on paper or on top of old paintings. Participants may work on any scale.
ONLINE WORKSHOP. Participants will meet daily on Zoom over the course of five days. There will be slide presentations as well as demos that illustrate the focus for the day. Exercises will be introduced in the meeting each morning. Participants will post their work on Padlet and will have group feedback in the afternoon/evening.
INTERIOR SPACE
WITH PETER VAN DYCK
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Weekly on Sundays
February 6
February 13
February 20
February 27
March 6, 2022
ONLINE WORKSHOP
Using pencil sketches, color studies, larger drawings and painting on location, we will build paintings of interior spaces from direct observation. Our goal will be to merge two different ways of organizing and depicting space in a painting: one will be through drawing the 3-dimensional, volumetric quality of the space; the other will be through finding large color relationships to express the movement of light through space. Experience in basic observational drawing as well as with oil and/or acrylic paint will be helpful.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
Weekly on Sundays
February 6
February 13
February 20
February 27
March 6, 2022
ONLINE WORKSHOP
Using pencil sketches, color studies, larger drawings and painting on location, we will build paintings of interior spaces from direct observation. Our goal will be to merge two different ways of organizing and depicting space in a painting: one will be through drawing the 3-dimensional, volumetric quality of the space; the other will be through finding large color relationships to express the movement of light through space. Experience in basic observational drawing as well as with oil and/or acrylic paint will be helpful.
PAINTING THE FIGURE WITH THE ITALIAN EARTH PALETTE
WITH LUCY MacGILLIS
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
June 24-26, 2022
Friday-Sunday
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
IN PERSON. On site at Black Pond
FULLY VACCINATED
In this intensive three-day course, Lucy MacGillis shares her love for paint, beginning with its creation — mixing raw earth pigments from Italy with linseed oil. Working directly from observation of the model, participants learn not only how to create their own paint, but are guided in looking closely at the tones of the figure before them. By limiting the range of colors, painters use the relationships between colors to give them more force.
Using herculaneum and pozzuoli red, warm italian earth, yellow ochre, naples yellow, earth green, herculaneum blue, burnt and raw umber, roman black earth, and titanium white, participants are encouraged to paint with the palette knife via trial and error, mixing, placing the paint and scraping it off as needed — the result being a harmonious study of space, color and form.
Working directly from the observation of the nude model, participants are encouraged to simplify the figure into simple, carefully mixed planes of color.
On the each day there will be several fast studies as well as longer poses. Each day ends in a group critique including art historical examples, referring back to the Italian tradition of figure painting.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL
June 24-26, 2022
Friday-Sunday
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
IN PERSON. On site at Black Pond
FULLY VACCINATED
In this intensive three-day course, Lucy MacGillis shares her love for paint, beginning with its creation — mixing raw earth pigments from Italy with linseed oil. Working directly from observation of the model, participants learn not only how to create their own paint, but are guided in looking closely at the tones of the figure before them. By limiting the range of colors, painters use the relationships between colors to give them more force.
Using herculaneum and pozzuoli red, warm italian earth, yellow ochre, naples yellow, earth green, herculaneum blue, burnt and raw umber, roman black earth, and titanium white, participants are encouraged to paint with the palette knife via trial and error, mixing, placing the paint and scraping it off as needed — the result being a harmonious study of space, color and form.
Working directly from the observation of the nude model, participants are encouraged to simplify the figure into simple, carefully mixed planes of color.
On the each day there will be several fast studies as well as longer poses. Each day ends in a group critique including art historical examples, referring back to the Italian tradition of figure painting.