2011-2012 Studio Workshops
with
Anthony Steffes, experimental artist
“Surfacing Artist Studio”
254 Knowles Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R2G1C7
204 667-0529
asdvmail@mts.net
“Surfacing Artist Studio” is a home studio where I offer a series of workshops as a way of bringing interested(ing) folk together to experiment with their present art interests and knowledge. Workshop attendees have included beginners, dabblers, and accomplished artists, and all are welcome. I enjoy sharing what I have learned in my travels and experience as an experimental artist and take pride in embracing all learning styles and approaches. I find we learn more when we are trying to accommodate or adapt to “art accidents” than when we paint from images. It’s all about problem- solving.
My workshops are structured and organized, so you can expect information to be presented in a step-by-step, work-through-the-process style. Composition and design are an integral part of all my work and teaching. I enjoy experimenting with a wide range of mediums. My job is to provide useful information, simplify the process, make it easy for you to be creative, and find a way that we can learn while laughing.
All workshops are limited to 6-9 participants depending on the space requirements and messiness of the project. I have experimented having more participants and am firmly resolved to have no more than nine when we are making art. We will increase to 12 when it is purely critique-no hands-on. Each participant will have his/her own table. There is a refrigerator and microwave available. Please remember to bring your lunch to all sessions
The workshops are downstairs; participants must be able to deal with stairs.
Generally, all supplies are provided for workshop use. That means I have paint, brushes, scissors, grounds and surfaces, pencils, erasers, glues, water containers, clean-up and other materials particular to individual workshops etc. on site for you to use. The paint provided is student/studio quality, Winsor and Newton. If you prefer to use your own paint and brushes, of course feel free to do so. I don’t supply specialized or high quality brushes for use. There are a few workshops where you are asked to bring your own paints and brushes. I have listed the basic palette I use under the “Tips and Techniques” section of my website.
To register for a course, please:
- contact me by e-mail (asdvmail@mts.net) or telephone (667-0529) to check on space availability before sending any registration or money
- Once space availability is confirmed please send the course fee and registration form to Anthony Steffes, 254 Knowles Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2G1C7. That completes and assures registration. Your place is not guaranteed until payment is received. Please note that it is fine to post-date cheques to the first of the month that the course is offered.
- I keep waiting lists for all courses and will notify you as soon as a space becomes available.
- Refunds will be given only when there is someone on a waiting list who is able to take your place. Please note that the deposit for the “Art Retreat”, a residency program at Camp Arnes, is non-refundable.
Please note that the only workshops I am doing until furthere notice in 2011-2012 is the Art Retreat at Camp Arnes at the end of May 2012 ands my two scheduled weeks at River Rock Studio in Cochrane Alberta at the end of August.
Information for the Camp Arnes Retreat is included below.
Art Retreat 2012
Experimental Art with Anthony Steffes
May 27-31, 2012
A retreat for artists, at its best, is a time to ponder what we have done as well as what we are doing, while looking forward to possibilities for challenging learning experiences. Removing ourselves from our “real life” situation often opens new perspectives, especially when we are surrounded by fellow artists who share our journey and are filled with motivations, struggles, visions, and endless searching for new forms of creative expression. Situated on Lake Winnipeg, north of Gimli, Manitoba, Camp Arnes provides a perfect place to rediscover the artist within each of us.
During this four-day retreat we will go through a series of “creative exercises” along with specific project demos, allowing time for participants to work at their own pace, as long, or as little, as their needs dictate. Working simultaneously in sketchbooks and on projects we will be attempting to explore the creative process: motivation, engagement, product creation. It is intended that while our projects begin with a common demo and preparation of materials, each of us will take that technical information down a path that expresses our own vision and idea.
I work experimentally and abstractly, using acrylic paint and all the mediums and products that the acrylic world offers, incorporating anything that perks my interest. I believe that art begins with play and experimentation (50%), involves intense problem solving (40%), and ends with finishing and content examination (10%). A strong advocate of composition and design, I bring together learning from workshops with renowned North American artists whose knowledge I have incorporated as I have developed my own style and views about art.
Presently, what makes the most sense to me is a statement from Jamie Oliviero, “It is our job to do the best thing we can for the person closest to us right now”. Whether the art process leads to pure abstraction, realism, or something in between is the particular journey each of us takes with that project.
Schedule
Sunday, May 27, 2011
4:30-5:00 – arrive at Camp Arnes, settle into rooms, set up workspace. Before 7:00.
5:30-supper
7:00-Getting Started: Intro and Discussion
9:00-snack
9:15-Design review
Monday, May 28, 2012
8:30-breakfast
9:00-10:00Project 1 Demo (design based)
12:00-lunch
1:00-2:00Project II Demo (surface and product based)
4:00-4:30 Acrylic product review, definitions and applications
5:30-supper
7:00-Work period
9:00-snack
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
8:30-breakfast
9:00-10:00-Project III Demo (pattern based)
12:00-lunch
1:00-2:00 Project IV Demo (large canvas)
5:30-supper
7:00-7:30 Project V Demo (art challenge)
9:00-snack
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
8:30-breakfast
9:00-10:00Fixing Techniques Demo
12:00-lunch
1:00-Work Period
3:00-4:00 New Ideas Demo
5:30-supper
7:00-Work Period
9:00-snack
Thursday, May 31, 2012
8:30-breakfast
9:00-Critique/Work Period
12:00-lunch
1:00- Critique/Work Period
3:00-Wrap-up
3:30-Departure
Camp Arnes is situated 120 kilometers north of Winnipeg, on the shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is an hour and a half drive from the North Perimeter.
Cedar Lodge provides shared as well as some private accommodation in rooms with full private baths. Bedding is provided. Participants will need to bring their own soaps and bath products. Cedar Lodge has a lounge with a refrigerator. A hot tub and swimming pool are also available.
Breakfast, lunch, supper, and late evening snack are provided. The meals are typical camp food. If you have specialized eating needs you may want to consider bringing some of your own favourites, especially fruit and healthy snacks. Camp Arnes is a “peanut free” environment.
We will be working in “Honeycomb”, a large room with windows on three sides. Each participant will have his/her own banquet sized table. All supplies and projects can be left in the room for the duration of the retreat. Participants may work as late or as early as they wish and the room is ours for the entire retreat.
The retreat fee covers lodging, board, some supplies and course fee. Additionally, some group supplies will be available to be shared. The all-inclusive fee for the retreat is $395. Registration is valid when you have submitted your registration form along with a non-refundable $100 deposit. The balance of the fee is due upon arrival at the retreat.
What You Bring:
- Acrylic paints and products including black and white gesso
- Polymer medium, matte medium
- A range of suitable brushes
- Some drawing materials
- Sketchbook of your choice
- Masking tape, glue stick, scissors
- General painting supplies including water containers, palette, plastic to cover the table, paper towels, rags, etc.
- Four blank grounds for projects which could all be the same or include a mixture of stretched canvas, unstretched canvas, canvasboard, thick illustration board, 300lb watercolour paper, wood panel. These can be any size from 6 x 6, 12 x 12 or 16 x 20. Suit yourself. Grounds that frame into a 16 x 20 frame are a good working size, and are also easy to frame. Quartering a full size watercolour sheet yields such a size.
- A larger fifth ground either 24 x 48, 36 x 36, 20 x 30, 24 x 36, or even larger.
- Your special toys used for experimental art-making: stamps, stencils, sponges, papers, texturizers, etc.
- Some writing, poetry, lyrics, or journal entries that are inspiring to you.
- A piece or pieces of artwork in progress that you may want to work on.
The supplies provided will relate to specific creative activities or projects undertaken.
A range of acrylic products and paints for experimentation will be available to share or take as quantities dictate.
Surfacing Artist Studio Art Retreat
with Anthony Steffes
May 27-31, 2012
Registration
Name ________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________
City ________________________ Postal Code ______________
Telephone Number ______________________________________
e-mail _______________________________________________
Retreat Fee: $395 (Includes: room and board, instructional fee, some group supplies)
I have enclosed my non-refundable $100 deposit dated today.
The balance ($295) is payable at time of arrival at the workshop on May 27, 2012.
Signature ____________________________
Please mail to: Anthony Steffes, 254 Knowles Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2G1C7.
