WITH MAUREEN NATHAN

March 3 - 5, 2023

Friday - Sunday

Hours: 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. eastern time

Two meetings per day:

11 a.m.

3 p.m.

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.

WITH ELIZABETH REAGH

WEDNESDAYS

May 31-June 21, 2023

11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. eastern time

ONLINE. Through a series of short and sustained exercises, we will incorporate invention into representational work. An example: shapes that can be read as light or shadow that have no basis in objective reality, but somehow enhance and become integral to the composition and overall painting, and importantly, make sense in the world of the painting. Working from photo references and life, we will alter what we see in order to make a more compelling image. Analysis and intuitive leaps will play equal parts in arriving at unexpected outcomes. We will prioritize “right” over “correct”. There will be demos, slide shows, and discussions about the resulting work. Meetings will be on Zoom, and work will be shared on the Padlet platform.

WITH NANCY McCARTHY

June 9 - 11, 2023

Friday - Sunday

10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND. The spring greens and chromatic grays of trees, field, and pond are a potent source of visual content. Using watercolor, participants will respond to landscape by looking deeply and translating what is observed into shape, value, and hue. A series of exercises will enhance fluency with the medium and deepen understanding of color mixing and compositional strategies. Each day multiple studies will be completed. This course is ideal for those people new to watercolor and those with some experience. Lunches are included in the cost of the workshop.

WITH MEGAN MARDEN

Mondays

July 31

August 7

August 14

August 21

August 28, 2023

ONLINE. Artists build a greater sense of connection to the world by making daily sketches. After several days of 'artist walks,' we might find ourselves looking at everything as if it were a painting. Participants will keep small, daily sketchbooks using portable media like pencil and watercolor. We will review the sketches in class each week and select one or more to use as the point of departure for a new painting. Working from these quick, observational studies allows the opportunity to revisit and reconsider formal issues in the new painting, while embracing the fluidity and immediacy of the original sketch. Some areas will need to be resolved through invention and interpretation. Others will require the artist to access their memory of the experience. Equal weight will be given to sketches and building a painting. Meetings will be held on Zoom and work will be shared on the Padlet platform.

WITH NICOLE SANTIAGO

August 9 - 13, 2023

Wednesday - Sunday

Two meetings per day:

11 a.m. eastern time

4 p.m. eastern time

ONLINE WORKSHOP. The interior is an ideal subject to examine the complexities of light, space, composition, and content. In this five-day workshop, I will share my process of creating interior paintings from direct observation through demonstrations, discussions, work sessions, and critiques. The depiction of the interior throughout art history will be presented. The Padlet platform will be used to share images; workshop meetings will be held on Zoom. All exercises will be completed using oil paint; other acceptable mediums include acrylic, gouache, and casein.

WITH CLNTEL STEED

SUNDAYS

October 1-29, 2023

ONLINE WORKSHOP. In this five-week course we will discover why transcribing is still a powerful tool in contemporary art making. Transcribing has a long history and many painters we celebrate were strong believers in history and transcribing from master works. Studying masterpieces from other centuries can lead us to new concepts and ways of composing. This process will also expand our color mixing abilities. Much is revealed in the transcribing process that is not available to us when we simply view a painting.

In this course we will not be making straight up copies, but will seek to discover the structure beneath the painting. We will look past the narrative and allow ourselves to get lost in the geometry of the painting. We will consider geometry’s importance and potential power in painting.

I will choose one transcription each week for the class to work on. The pieces and centuries I choose will be deliberate and will focus on space and pictorial evolution. Ideally, you will be spending 30 hours on each transcription, not necessarily finishing the painting but thinking about the relationships, the color, the forms, and the geometry.

We will meet on Zoom and share work on the Padlet platform.

WITH PETER VAN DYCK

TEN SESSIONS

Tuesdays

October 3

October 10

October 17

October 24

October 31

November 7

November 14

November 21

November 28

December 5

2023

10:30-2:30 eastern time

ONLINE WORKSHOP. This 10-week workshop will focus on creating still-life paintings that incorporate the larger spatial context in which the still life is set. Participants will make paintings from observation with an emphasis on light, color, structure and pictorial design. We will start by finding a subject and looking at the practical and formal aspects of setting up a still life. We will discuss how to organize and simplify complex information, how to create a unified sense of light throughout a picture, and how to interpret color and tone relationships. We will also cover aspects of drawing that will help in the creation of a convincing sense of space.

WITH MAUREEN NATHAN

WEDNESDAYS

OCTOBER 11

OCTOBER 18

OCTOBER 25

2023

11 a.m.-2 p.m. eastern time, US and Canada

ONLINE. This workshop will introduce intaglio and relief printmaking, together with collage. You will learn to print a drypoint edition, as well as create unique layered monoprints. Work will be shared on the online platform Padlet, which will make it easy to discuss our experience and knowledge throughout the workshop. We will use non-toxic water-based inks and, where possible, recycled/found materials.

PLEASE NOTE: You will need to use a press. If you do not have access to a print studio, there are many craft presses suitable for these methods; they are available at relatively low cost. Contact blackpondstudio@gmail.com for a list of craft presses.

WITH LUCY MacGILLIS

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

TUESDAYS

January 3

January 10

January 17

January 24

January 31

2023

In this ONLINE class, we'll focus on the masterpieces of four female Italian painters, investigating what makes them so timelessly captivating. Using the method of transcription, we will draw from these paintings without copying them, but searching for the brilliant uses of rhythm, duality and repetition within the geometry of these compositions. We'll begin by looking at ancient Roman paintings, into the Renaissance to Plautilla Nelli, Sofonisba Anguissola, Fede Galizia, and then towards the baroque with Artemisia Gentileschi. In each session we will explore a specific painting at length in a group discussion over Zoom. After the introduction to each painting, participants will have a week to prepare a drawing transcription as well as a chromatic study created with oil paints, to better grasp the use of color in that day's masterpiece. MacGillis will present demos from her studio in Italy to show how she goes about mixing the colors in the paintings using a limited earth palette and palette knife.

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 the color painting studies.

Work will be shared on an online platform.

THE COST OF THE KITS IS INCLUDED IN THE WORKSHOP PRICE.

WITH ROTEM AMIZUR

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

Sundays

January 8

January 15

January 22

January 29

February 5

2023

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.

WITH JENNIFER POCHINSKI

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

February 7-11, 2023

Tuesday-Saturday

All painters are interested in photography to a certain extent.

— David Hockney  

ONLINE WORKSHOP 

The focus of the workshop will be working from photo references. Since the mid 1800s, working from photographic sources has been a common practice in painting. We will explore ways to sharpen our personal language when painting from mediated imagery, as well as ways to add more adventure. This intensive five-day course is geared toward people who have a robust painting practice. Participants will meet in the morning to watch a presentation of ideas and exercises. They will work on their own and then meet again each morning for group discussion and more presentations.

Schedule:

Tuesday Feb 7 

Intros and presentation of concepts and the exercise and discussion

Meeting time: 10 am EST (lasting 1 1/2 --2 hours)

Wednesday Feb 8 

Presentation of concepts and the exercise and discussion

Meeting time: 10 am EST. (lasting 1 1/2 -- 2 hours)

Thursday Feb 9

Critique/feedback

Meeting time (lasts 2 1/2 hours):

GROUP A  10 am EST 

GROUP B 12:30 pm EST 

Friday Feb 10

Final presentations and discussions

Meeting time 10 am EST (lasting 1 1/2 -- 2 hours)

Saturday Feb 11

Final Critique/feedback 

Meeting time (lasts 2 1/2 hours):

GROUP A  10 am EST 

GROUP B 12:30 pm EST

WITH ERIN RAEDEKE

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

February 16 - 20, 2023

Thursday - Monday

Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

eastern time, US and Canada

Three meetings per day on Zoom:

10 a.m.

2 p.m.

5 p.m.

ONLINE WORKSHOP. Still-life painting gained prominence in the 16th century, but it dates back to ancient times. Today, the possibilities of this genre are unlimited. In this workshop we will begin by reflecting on our assumptions about what makes an interesting still life, and what we “bring to the table.” From there we will expand our ideas of what a still life can be. Composition, point of view, space, and color relationships are just some of the ideas that we will focus on.  

WITH CATHERINE KEHOE

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

WEDNESDAYS

March 1-29, 2023

1-4:30 p.m.

eastern time

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.

WITH JENNIFER POCHINSKI

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

One of the pleasant things those of us who write or paint do is to have the daily miracle. It does come. ~ Gertrude Stein

April 19 - 23, 2023

WEDNESDAY - SUNDAY

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND. The workshop will center around painting from life. We will start with objects/still life and move to the figure and self portraits. The workshop will be made of many short exercises throughout the 5 days. Basic materials needed: oil paint or acrylic. No specific palette required. Supports include paper and canvas or panels. There will be a slide presentation and plenty of discussion. Lunches are included in the workshop fee.

WITH CATHERINE KEHOE

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

MONDAYS

April 3 - May 1, 2023

11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Eastern time, US and Canada

ONLINE COURSE: Portraits from art history will be the point of departure for study of pictorial structure and invention, with a focus on the head. You may work from postcards, photocopies from books, or images on your devices (tablet or laptop). We will touch upon the universal proportions of the head. Mediums will include graphite, charcoal, collage, gouache, acrylic and/or oil paint or materials you have on hand. Each participant will look deeply at one or two images and generate permutations through exercises that lead to simplification and abstraction. This rigorous and wide-ranging analysis of images from our painting ancestors will feed our own work and imaginations as we engage with images that speak to us still.

WITH JENNIFER POCHINSKI

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

May 17-21, 2023

WEDNESDAY - SUNDAY

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

“Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take risks.” – Mark Rothko

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND! The workshop will center around painting from life. We will start with objects/still life and move to the figure and self portraits. There will be many short exercises throughout the 5 days. Basic materials needed: oil paint or acrylic . No specific palette required. Support includes mostly paper and some canvas or panels. There will be a slide presentation and plenty of discussion. Lunch will be provided each day.

WITH LUCY MacGILLIS

THIS WORKSHOP IS FULL

June 27-29, 2023

Tuesday - Thursday

10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

IN PERSON AT BLACK POND! In this intensive three-day workshop we will work from a still life setup, with handmade Italian earth paints. Lucy will share her joy of 'la materia', the material of paint itself, and the grinding process of oil paint. The limited earth palette and use of palette knives will help participants improve their mixing of tones, and consider more carefully the relationships of colors. We will make several quick studies and a longer one; daily critiques will include art historical references. Some pigment will be supplied, and lunch will be provided each day