2008 Winter / Spring Classes
Scroll down for new courses in Visual Art, Writing, Film, Fibre and Youth.
Writing
What We Love: Poetry Craft Seminar: Susan Andrews Grace
Feb 14 – Apr 3
Thursdays, 7 – 10pm
$240
What we love is our greatest teacher. This eight week workshop seminar will help participants develop poetry writing skills as well as greater understanding of their own process. Participants will choose a book that is attractive to them, examine and assess it with a view to articulating their own craft. Paying attention to what takes our breath away, as well as to the basic elements such as meaning, line, sound, structure, and imagery, gives great power to our writing. Books of contemporary Canadian poetry will be provided, compliments of Brick Books, for participants to choose and keep. Open to all levels of writing experience.
Where Does Poetry Come From, Anyway? Natasha Jmieff
Feb 14 – Apr 3
Thursdays 4:30-6:30pm
$200
Don’t wait for inspiration! Make poetry anywhere, anytime! Using free writing as our primary tool, we will learn how to access our most authentic voices, invoking the magic of our right brains to bang sounds and images together. We will learn how to spot a poem in the wild of a free written page and how to tame that wildness, using a combination of instinct and technique, into a finished structure called a poem.
Mysteries of the Deep: Narrative Structure in Longer Works: Nicola Harwood
Feb 16, 10am – 4pm
$90
A one-day intensive focusing on the analysis of longer works for structural integrity. Students should have a project – of any genre – fiction, non-fiction, script – to work with in class.
The Alchemy of Writing: Shayla Wright
Feb 19 – Apr 8
Tuesdays, 4 - 6:30pm
$200
"Oh the songs we hide, singing them only to ourselves."
Theodore Roethke
In the Alchemy of Writing we create a container together - a wide open space for every voice inside us that wants to reveal itself. Within this openness of Being, this willingness to be fully present for ourselves, we realize that every voice has a right to be heard. As we write, listen, and let go of our demands and expectations, we discover that the totality of who we are is not limited to the ideas and beliefs of our conditioned mind. The liberating power of free expression allows us to welcome and embrace the wildest and most vulnerable aspects of ou well rselves, as as our basic sanity and goodness. No previous writing experience required. For more information about Shayla Wright and The Alchemy of Writing, visit www.barefootjourneys.net, or email barefootjourneys@gmail.com
Creative Non-Fiction: Luanne Armstrong
Feb 25 – Mar 31
Mondays: Two Sections
12:15-3:15pm and 7-10pm
$200
Writing nonfiction encompasses both the power of the real and the deep resonance of the literary. An essential ingredient is passionate curiousity; this writing is a process of inquiry and discovery. Writing non-fiction also means engaging with strategic craft and personal issues and learning to draw on your experience and memory for material.This class will look at all forms of non-fiction but will focus on memoir, personal journalism and the personal essay.
Alchemy of Writing One Day Intensive: Shayla Wright
March 9
Sunday, 9am-3pm
$90
"Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished."
Mary Oliver
We live in a vast field of creative energy that wants to move through us. Opening to this energy allows us to directly experience our relatedness to all of life. In 'The Alchemy of Writing' you give yourself permission to be exactly and precisely who you are. You learn how to access the open ground of presence as the source of your innate creativity. At this Intensive we will be exploring what the Spanish poets call 'duende'-the quality of your raw, wide open, naked voice, before you impose any ideas on it of good or bad, right or wrong. The writing experience in these workshops happens in a circle of mutual respect, kindness, and trust in our capacity to take risks, to follow the thread of our own unfolding, to let go of our attachment to results and surrender to the living process.
Film
Digital Film Workshop: Amy Bohigian and Katherine Pettit
April 19 & 20
Sat / Sun, 9am – 3pm
$200
This weekend intensive will introduce students to the technological and creative process of making a short film from start to finish. The process involves collaboration with others in the class by choosing a film idea that will be pitched, scripted, shot and edited, while performing a creative position such as producer, screenwriter, director, cinematographer, actor or editor. The final group project will be screened at Oxygen Art Centre.
Youth
Mandala Painting
Anita Levesque
Mar 18, 19, 20, 21 (Spring Break)
12:15pm – 3:15pm
$140
12 yrs and up. Adults welcome.
Mandalas are an ancient circular
art form used primarily in sacred traditions. This course will focus
on the use of watercolour, pen
and ink, mixed media collage,
and co-operative art making.
Through the Green Lens - Wilderness Film Project for Youth:
Amy Bohigian and Emily Nilsen
Mar 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 (Spring Break)
Mon – Fri, 9am – 3pm
$325
13-18 yr olds
Filmmaker Amy Bohigian and Environmental Educator Emily Nilsen will facilitate a week of wilderness excursions for youth ages 13-18 using digital film to capture the fragility and splendour of our mountain environment. Youth will gain valuable environmental awareness about our region as they work together as a team to produce a short digital film. Offered in partnership with the Land Conservancy. Digital film gear included. A project of Oxygen’s Youth, Art and the Environment Program.
Dream Painting for Children Charlotte Erlandsson
Mar 18, 19, 20, 21 (Spring Break)
Tues – Fri, 10am – 12pm
$90
9-12 year olds
Many of our ancestors worked with their dreams, songs and stories in a mythical way. Our connection with the animals, plants and other beings often comes when we dream. We will look at old art from 20,000 years ago and contemporary artists for inspiration and ideas and then create our own dream paintings.
Fibre
Draft & Design Wide Leg Capri Pants: Anna Wagner
Feb 17 – April 13
(not Mar 9)
Sundays, 9am - 12pm
$240
Imagine a perfectly fitting pair of wool plaid capri pants, or cozy fleece yoga bottoms! In eight weeks learn to draft and design a multitude of pants from this one pattern made to fit you. Supplies: $35-50
Hot Sheath Dresses - Design Your Own! Anna Wagner
NEW TIME!
Feb 18 - April 7
Mondays, 3:30-6:30
$240
Design and draft a sleeveless, knee-length dress to your measurements using fashion industry techniques. It’s the year of the dress, and in this eight week class you will have yours ready for spring! Supplies: $50
Hand-Knit a Kimono Sweater! Anna Wagner
April 27 – May 25
Sundays, 7 – 9pm
$120
If you can knit a scarf, then you can knit this exciting kimono-styled sweater! Based on your personal measurements, we will draft and knit this sweater in panels. This course is designed for beginners, and knitters who seek simplicity without counting. Supplies: $15 plus yarn and needles.
Bathing Suits! Anna Wagner
April 27 – May 25
Sundays, 9 am - 12pm
$180
Draft and sew a bathing suit or bikini to your body measurements for the summer. A perfectly fit bathing suit brings confidence to your beach time. From your draft, choose your cut and style. Supplies: $35
Visual Art
Creative Re-connect: A Beginner Course for Adults
Anita Levesque
Ability Level: Novice/Beginner/Young at heart
Feb 12 – April 1
Tuesdays, 7 – 10pm
$240
A beginner class for adults wanting to explore their creative side. An emphasis will be placed on the creative process – not a technique class. Join us as we explore various art materials and methods through the act of play, experimentation, and group cooperation. This class is designed to be a safe environment for those who have always wanted to tap into their creative sides, but lack the confidence.
Cerra Cola – Wax Paint Technique: Courtenay Anderson
Feb 13 – Apr 2
Wednesdays, 3:30 – 6:30pm
$240
This is an abstract, experimental, mixed media eight week painting class that works with cerra cola wax painting, acrylic painting and photo transfer techniques. Students learn and apply principles of colour theory and design in their explorations of negative space and repetition to create non-representational compositions.
Low-tech Printmaking
Natasha Smith
Feb 13 – Apr 2
Wednesdays, 7–10pm
$240
In this 8 week course students will create a large composite original, one of a kind print using various low-tech printmaking techniques including monoprinting, collagraph, lino and woodcut. Students will learn plate making, registration and inking methods, the effect of printing on various papers and also investigate chine-colle. This course is suitable for artists of all levels (some printmaking knowledge is an asset but not essential). $15 materials.
Artist Trading Cards
Anita Levesque
March 1 & 8
2 Saturdays, 9am – 3pm
$140
Learn about Artist Trading Cards and become a part of an ongoing performance piece that involves exchange and expressions. This will be a weekend of experimentation of materials and ideas. A good time for all levels of artistic expression. Novices welcome! Careful: it’s addictive!
Learn to Draw in 18 Hours
Mirja Vahala
Mar 15 – April 29 (not April 19)
Saturdays, 9am-12pm
$200
If you think you can’t draw but want to learn, this six week class is for you. Learn to access the visual side of your brain and be amazed at how your drawing skills develop in just 15 hours. This course is based on the best-selling book, DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN. Mirja will provide some supplies for a fee of $15. A supply list is available or contact Mirja Vahala at mirja@inspiringminds.ca. PS Check out www.inspiringminds.ca to see how well past beginner drawers have done.
Colour My World: For the Artistic, Scientific & Spiritually Minded: Anita Levesque
April 8 – May 13
Tuesdays, 7 – 10pm
$200
Colour is full of mystery and complexity. As beams of light, it affects us on deeper levels then we often realize. This 6 week course is designed for those who find colour, in all its aspects, intriguing. Working with acrylics, pastels, collage and watercolour, we will touch upon the physical, spiritual, scientific, cultural, and emotional lives of colour. This class is designed for the child at heart, the inquisitive, and the playful.
Building a Painting
Natasha Smith
April 23 – May 28
Wednesdays, 7–10pm
$200
This 6 week course will take students away from the flat 2D world of painting. Students will experiment with building interesting surfaces and textures on wooden panels through collaging objects, various materials and papers and applying various mediums. Design elements and principles will also be discussed including colour mixing. $10 materials.
Drawing it Out
Deborah Thompson
May 5, 6, 7 and 8
9am - 3pm
$240
CANCELLED