June 26, 2013 
Vancouver Island School of Art Newsletter 

A note about emails from VISA

I realize we have been sending more than the usual amount emails and I apologize for those of you who feel inundated from VISA emails. 

Throughout the summer months we are sending out an email each Monday to remind people about ONE upcoming workshop and then on Thursday we send out our regular newsletter. This week in addition to these two emails we sent out an email about our upcoming Garden Party Fundraiser on July 5

These are challenging times for both arts organizations and post secondary education institutions. We ask you to bear with us and our emails because the Monday workshop emails have made a big difference in giving us enough numbers to run workshops that we might have had to cancel otherwise. We would ask that those of you who want to make VISA a success, please consider forwarding the Monday workshop email to friends who might want to take a workshop. Our one-day workshops with all supplies included are a perfect way to introduce somebody to the experience of making art. Many of you who have taken a one-day workshop or 12-week course know how the experience has enriched your life, so why not pass this experience on to somebody else. I am sure everybody knows somebody who could do with a little art in their life.

Come mid-August, we will go back to the once a week newsletter email and just the occasional workshop-related email on Mondays. If at any time you feel you do not want to receive emails from us, please feel free to click on 'unsubscribe' at the bottom of this email. You can always access our newsletter on the index page of our website.

Thank you for your ongoing support and also I would like to thank all the people who have given me so many positive and appreciative comments about our weekly newsletters.

Wendy Welch
Director, Vancouver Island School of Art
This week's thoughts on contemporary art

I was delighted to discover in last Thursday's New York Times that one of my favourite artists has a museum retrospective at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. More images of the exhibition can be seen here: History of the Universe. As a teacher I often use Jennifer Bartlett's work as an example of how to explore an idea to its fullest, with her In the Garden series being a great case in point. Bartlett spent a year in the south of France and made 200 drawings of the same garden which were exhibited in the Paula Cooper Gallery in 1981. When I show this work to students they immediately express amazement at the idea of spending one year on a single subject. Sticking with 'one subject' is really the best way to learn and to come to a greater understanding of that subject. We often think, if we don't like one thing, or one thing doesn't work, then we must flit to the next thing. However sometimes repeating the 'same' thing over and over brings us to the realization that the more we look at one thing the more we come to know that thing and the more we can see the infinite variety it can offer. Our perception and our imagination has the capacity to turn one thing into a multitude of experiences, viewpoints and impressions.

The exhibition catalog for Bartlett's In the Garden (now out-of-print but can occasionally be found secondhand priced anywhere from $50-$500) is really the best instructional book on drawing you can find because it contains examples of every possible style, medium and interpretation of subject; from the extremely representational pen and ink drawings to the most minimal abstract form of mark-making with a brush. All other how-to draw books pale in comparison to this very comprehensive work.

Many of the best artistic and scientific ideas come through repetition; whether it is by preforming the same task over and over or by revisiting the same subject matter again and again. I have always been fascinated by what happens when we engage fully in repetitive acts and let ourselves go past the state of boredom. My students have heard me quote John Cage many times:  'If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all."

Much of Bartlett's work revolves around the idea of repetition such as in one of her very early body of works called Rhapsody where she created 987 etchings by making a graph paper like grid on each plate. Bartlett's work also pushes repetition in another way with work that uses sculptural forms on the floor that repeat shapes found in paintings on the wall such as in Sea Wall.

Below is an example from the In the Garden series and you can see how the simple gesture of changing the medium and the approach can dramatically change a work; on the left we see an almost impressionistic application of gouache and on the right is a more expressionist use of chalk pastels. Both the material and the method are varied to create a new version of the same thing. Here is another example of the same garden where a grid provides the variable to the scene. Endless repetition inevitably leads to endless variety.


MAP AS ART
July 1-3 (Monday-Wednesday), 10am-5pm

 

Looking for a fun way to spend your Canada Day holiday? Why not check out this map making workshop.
 
This workshop uses the language and elements of maps and map making to explore many terrains including biography, abstraction, memory and space. 

Projects include drawing, painting, collage and relief sculpture. No previous art experience necessary.
 

Instructor: Wendy Welch

Supply List   

Important supply list note: if you don't have all the items on the supply list, not to worry because we have lots of supplies available at school that you can use. Please do not let lack of supplies deter you from taking this exciting and imaginative 3-day workshop!  

 

Map as Art Images 

 

Some exhibitions on Map Art 

Tuition: $320 (18 hours) 

To register on-line  

Image above: Heidi Whitman

NEW VISA WORKSHOP!
LANDSCAPE AS MEMORY 
Saturday and Sunday, July 13 & 14, 10am-5pm

 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to paint a landscape from your memory? We have all experienced landscapes that have moved us very deeply and then we have gone on to the next thing and the visuals get relegated to a distant memory. Imagine taking the time out to stop and focus on some of the landscapes you have experienced in your life and to make paintings based on these very special memories.  

Instructor Rick Leong will use a variety of techniques such as guided visualizations and free-writing exercises to facilitate your personal memories of landscapes and how to use these memories to create imaginative and evocative paintings.  

 

Students will develop three small paintings based on these memories during the workshop. Projects will be done in acrylic paint. No previous painting experience necessary. Check out some of the instructor's Rick Leong's wonderfully imaginative work.

 

Instructor: Rick Leong  

Supply List 

Tuition: $175 (12 hours) 

 

To register on-line 

PAINTING JUMPSTART
Monday-Friday, July 22-26, 10am-5pm

 

Are you feeling stuck and in need of some fresh insight to push your painting forward? Do you really want to paint again but feel a little rusty? This hands-on painting immersion will cover strategies to inject new energy into your process. If you have been painting alone, the group dynamic of a class creates a sense of camaraderie through an exchange of ideas. Warm-up exercises at the beginning of each day will shift your attention in a different and new way. Students can bring on-going projects to class or start new ones in the workshop. The instructor will cover issues such as paint handling, palette and composition choices as well as historical and contemporary painting references. On the last day of the workshop there will be a group critique for students to share their work. This is an invaluable opportunity for feedback from both the instructor and your peers. Oil and acrylic painters welcome.

 

Instructor: Val Nelson
Tuition: $395 (30 hours)

DRAWN TO STITCH
Saturday and Sunday, July 20 & 21, 10am-5pm

 

This workshop cross-pollinates the mediums of thread, fiber and drawing. Students will produce individual and collaborative works that use fiber and thread with traditional drawing media such as paper, graphite, and ink. The workshop provides inspiration for the making of works that blur the boundaries between drawing and the traditions of sewing and craft by exploring basic elements of drawing such as line, value and space alongside contemporary drawings that incorporate stitching and thread work.
No sewing or drawing experience necessary.
Instructor: Connie Morey

Tuition: $175 (12 hours)
Supply fee: $17 (wool drawing kit) 

 

 To register on-line 

VISA GARDEN PARTY FUNDRAISER Friday, July 5, 5pm-8pm

 

If you like the idea of eating and drinking in a beautiful garden setting while contributing to VISA's financial well-being, then buy a ticket for yourself and a friend for this festive event.

Tickets are available at the office for $50. You will receive a $25 donation receipt for purchasing a ticket. Ticket price includes food and complimentary beverage. Tickets available at the VISA office or Prestige Framing (2002 Oak Bay Avenue)

Artwork by Tanta Pennington (image left), Ira Hoffecker, Jenn Wilson and Kathleen Lane will be up for auction. Event's sponsors include: Il Terrazzo Restaurant, Artisan Wines, Phillips Brewery as well as many of our fantastic board members.

Music by The Stomp Club Trio.

Location: 3185 Norfolk Road, in the lovely Uplands area of Greater Victoria.


 
For more information about our courses or events contact
Linda or Jen at the office: 250-380-3500 or [email protected]
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