WORKSHOPS & BIOGRAPHIES

 Re-Use (Straw into Gold)           Presenter: Ben Potter

     This workshop will focus on the creation of 2-d and 3-d work made from non-traditional and re-used materials and their by-products. 

    My own work often involves the use of natural and man-made materials such as plastic, pollen and milk. I will demonstrate the processes that I use, and encourage students to experiment to create work that may range from representational to abstract, rendered with non-traditional materials. We will discuss the visual and tactile challenges presented by using non-art materials, but also the connotations that these materials can bring to the work.  

Bio: Ben Potter

    Ben Potter was born in 1970 and grew up in Tennessee.  He majored in Art and Biology at Williams College, and received his M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the California College of Arts in 1998. 

    He taught classes in sculpture, design, photography, drawing and painting at several Vermont colleges and Ripon College in Wisconsin before moving to Unity College in Maine, where he is Associate Professor of Art.  His art practice stems from his interdisciplinary background, and uses subjects drawn primarily from the sciences as the basis for his formal and conceptual investigation.

     He has exhibited widely in the United States and Europe.

A Touch of Glass (Fused Glass Cabochons)  Bonnie Faulkner

     A lot will be packed into this glass fusing class! Glass jewelry is one of the hottest fashions around today with dichroic elements adding a little “bling” to the party! From necklaces to earrings you’ll be amazed at how spectacular glass can be! Participants in this workshop will learn the basics of cutting glass, simple color design, the fusing process (with kiln operation basics and firing hints) and designing completed jewelry from cabochons made in the class. Three techniques of jewelry bail construction will be demonstrated. Bullseye 90 glass will be used along with COE 90 dichroic glass. An endless supply of Bullseye colored glass will be on hand. Participants will get two, 2”x3” pieces of dichroic glass; more will be available for purchase if desired.

Bio: Bonnie Faulkner

     Bonnie graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a major in Art Education and minor in Ceramics. When the demand for her artwork grew, she limited teaching to workshops and private clients throughout Maine. She currently teaches glass art at Bowdoin College, Maine Art Glass Studio and privately through her Heron Point Studio, nestled along the banks of the Cousins River in Yarmouth, where she gathers many of her inspirations from Nature’s colors and textures.

     Over many years as art teacher, post-graduate student and artist, Bonnie has worked in many mediums and has now evolved to one that speaks to her most: glass.  Glass inherently possesses a unique quality in that natural light enhances and amplifies its beauty. Glass, the simplest of substances, is capable of both transmitting and refracting light; with each aspect bringing its own challenges and characteristics to a finished piece.

     Bonnie’s work can be seen and purchased in galleries throughout Maine, and NYC, as well as through her website, www.heronpointstudio.com

The Primitive Pot: Pit and Barrel Firing    Presenter: Cathy Schroeder Hammond

     This workshop will take us back to nature and back in time, borrowing methods from the Native Americans of the southwest, and various primitive cultures from across the globe. With the pots we create the first day we’ll explore a variety of burnishing and decorating methods, including the use of terra sigillata (literally, “earth seal”). To our bisqueware we’ll apply decorative washes, copper wire, leaves, gauze, or any of a number of possible materials that can yield color and pattern in the firing.

The firing itself uses primarily natural, organic materials. Sawdust, straw or hay, pine needles, dry seaweed or dry manure provide the basis for our fuel. Horsehair, feathers, sugar, leaves, nutshells and copper wire or tape provide color and pattern. Firing in small metal cans or barrels makes the firing “pit” safer, faster, and portable. By bringing a few bisqued pieces from home, we’ll (hopefully) be able to fire twice, allowing us to “perfect” our methods or try something new.

 (Book Reference: Alternative Kilns & Firing Techniques by James Watkins and Paul Wandless)

Bio: Cathryn Schroeder Hammond

    Cathryn Schroeder Hammond came to Maine in 1987 after earning her BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. She found work first in the ceramic supply industry, and later in education. For more than twenty years Cathy has been making pottery and instructing in the ceramic arts. She continues to teach evening classes at Maine College of Art, and is active in the arts community throughout Southern Maine. Cathy established “Pasture’s Edge Studio” at her home in Lyman during the winter of 2001-02, and in the spring of 2007, began teaching her first independent class. Pasture’s Edge Studio now hosts the monthly meetings of the Southern Maine Clay Guild, group pit and raku firing events, and an annual holiday sale each December. Cathy’s work is exhibited regularly in quaint shops along the Downeast coast, and in some of Maine’s finest craft shows and fairs. 

Sculpture: Rewired and Recycled   Presenter: Lynne Shulman

    Participants will explore a variety of wire sculpture techniques, including soldering, copper-foiling and cold connections. Techniques for working with wire to create both linear and three-dimensional forms will be investigated. These methods will be combined with small found or reused objects (sea glass, pottery shards, bones, shells, small old bottles, lobster pot tags, scrabble tiles, etc., etc.) to construct whimsical, imaginative relief and three-dimensional sculptures.

Bio: Lynne Shulman

     Lynne Shulman has been a dedicated artist and art educator in Maine for over 30 years. Since graduating from Pratt Institute (BFA) and SUNY New Paltz (MSAE), she has worked in a variety of mediums, each affording her a unique way to communicate her artistic vision. Lynne Shulman creates imaginative and humorous, one of a kind sculptures using wire, wood and other found objects. Her sculptures are inspired by the bounty of natural materials found along the coast of Maine. Before her retirement last year, from the Westbrook School Department, she was honored as a 2007 finalist for Maine Teacher of the Year. She is thrilled to be back at the MAEA conference, as her work as an artist and teacher have been shaped by the more than 25 fall conferences she has attended.

Design,Cut,Print and Embellish... Linoleum Block Printing by Hand

                                                                                 Presenter: Holly Berry

     In this workshop natural forms will serve as inspiration and a guide to create motif designs which we will then explore through a series of cutting and printing exercises.

Compositions with an emphasis on figure ground, texture, line quality and decorative elements will help us to get the most out of the medium.

After creating a personal inventory of images and designs on same sized blocks we can introduce and play with a variety of printing options.

     Using the key block approach we will cover several ways to add color to our prints. This will include methods of handcoloring and direct color, multi-block, white line and the reduction method.

     Tips and tricks will be offered to help with registration and "mistakes" while cutting and printing along with ideas on the resourceful use of materials.

We will also consider the narrative and decorative potential of the medium, how to create repeat patterns and information on printing on fabric and other surfaces.

Bio: Holly Berry

    For over 25 years relief printmaker and children's book illustrator, Holly Berry, has worked from her home studio in Waldoboro, Maine.  A native of Kennebunk, she received a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1979. 

    Her watercolor and colored pencil book illustrations have been recognized with starred reviews and awards including those from the Society of Illustrators and the Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators. Most recently "How Mama Brought the Spring" received the Maine State Library Association's 2008 Lupine Honor Book Award.

    Along with book illustration, Holly makes linoleum block relief prints of designs inspired by the natural setting on her rural farm. Pets, pests, insects, birds, fish and other creatures inhabit her original prints which have been exhibited throughout Maine and included in juried and invitational shows nationwide.  In 2003, she was recognized with an Individual Artists Fellowship Award from the Maine Arts Commission for her work in printmaking. She has also received a Good Idea Grant from the MAC and is currently completing a set of large-scale linoleum block prints of animals for a "Percent for Art" project located in her community.

Collaborations With Nature and Art     Presenter: Jon Brooks

     This class will begin with a look at who we are in relation to the trees that surround us. We will create sculptural and figurative objects from naturally formed and low-impact harvested wood. Using milled lumber with traditional and inventive techniques we will create sculpture and objects that lead to artistic expression. We will cover tree identification, harvesting, appropriate tools, carving, joinery, and surface adornment. Students are encouraged to playfully explore, thoughtfully and creatively. This course is open to all levels.

BIO: Jon Brooks

Studio Artist; teaching and residencies: University of Tasmania (Australia), Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), Haystack (ME), Penland (NC); collections: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Renwick Gallery (D.C.), Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Mark and Diane Grainer (D.C.), Lifetime Fellow of the NH Arts Council. www.jonbrooks.org

Observational Painting           Presenter: Janet Conlon Manyan

     This class is appropriate for any level and will include a great deal of individual attention. There will be references to painting in the history of art, critiques and discussion.

       The Initial introduction will include the use of oil paint, the attributes of color and a demonstration of mixing. Paintings of Cezanne and Chardin in a discussion of surfaces and subjects

     Participants will work in the landscape with a demonstration of value underpainting. The idea of the oil sketch will be explored through the art of Corot, Turner and Constable.

 Bio: Janet C. Manyan

    Janet Manyan was born in Rhode Island in 1937.  She received her B. A. in Art from the College of New Rochelle, continuing her studies of art at the Rhode Island School of Design, the Vermont Studio Center and received her M.F.A. in painting from Brooklyn College. Since moving to Maine in 1979 she has pursued dual careers of teaching and painting. Lois Dodd, one of this country’s finest painters said of Manyan's works;” I’ve always been impressed with them. Nothing is obvious; they’re very subtle, very delicate, very balanced, and very sensitive.”