July 5, 2013 
Vancouver Island School of Art Newsletter 

New VISA workshop!
LANDSCAPE AND MEMORY  
with Rick Leong
Saturday & Sunday, July 13 and 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 develop three small paintings based on these memories during the workshop using 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 

 

This week's thoughts on contemporary art

If you aren't familiar with the work of Thomas Hirshhorn, take this time to check out his latest project in the Bronx. The first time I experienced Hirshorn's work in person was at the Vancouver Art Gallery in an exhibition called The Mirror's Edge curated by Okwui Enwezor. Hirshorn's work was in a space that is not usually accessible to the public. You literally went behind the walls of the gallery into a storage space of sorts to see a set-up comprised of many random phoographs, collages, plants and a lot of aluminum foil. I was unable to find any documentation of this exhibition or Hirshorn's work at the VAG but the work Cavemanman gives you a good idea of what I saw in the closet. These works make me think of one of my favourite books, Gaston Bachelard's Poetics of Space where Bachelard writes on the metaphoric impact of spaces such as closets and drawers. 

In following his tradition of using unusual spaces, Hirshhorn's first public art piece in North America is installed in the Bronx. The work is part of a series of monuments dedicated to four philosophers, this one is for Gramsci (the others being Spinoza, Deleuze and Bataille). Hirshhorn is an extremely political artist, with one of his main causes being art itself. Here is a quote from Hirshhorn about doing the project in the Bronx:

"I tell them, 'This is not to serve your community, per se, but it is to serve art, and my reasons for wanting to do these things are purely personal artistic reasons,'" Mr. Hirschhorn said. "My goal or my dream is not so much about changing the situation of the people who help me, but about showing the power of art to make people think about issues they otherwise wouldn't have thought about."

 

I love the idea that Thomas Hirshhorn is conducting an 'art school' at the monument throughout the summer. How much fun would that be to go to Art School with Thomas Hirshhorn? Often Hirshorn's work is visually overwhelming but he has some extremely thoughtful and interesting ideas and is uncompromising in his desire to express himself. An earlier piece called Superficial Engagement would give you a good sense of the kind of work that established Hirshhorn as an internationally renown artist. This short film will give you an idea of Thomas Hirshhorn how thinks about art and himself as an artist. Hirshhorn's work is heavily extremely embedded with thoughts and meaning and it deserves some time to absorb despite that it is at times extremely challenging to embrace as a visual whole.

 


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

 

Only a few tickets left!!

 

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 Ira Hoffecker (image left), Tanta Pennington, Jenn Wilson, Kathleen Lane, Jane Laing and Xane St Phillip 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.
PLEIN AIR PAINTING WORKSHOP 
Monday-Friday, July 15-20, 10am-5pm

Imagine painting outside for a week in the middle of the summer? Can you think of more fulfilling way to make your summer a creative experience you will never forget?  In this week long workshop, instructor Jeremy Herndl will take you through all the ways to approach painting outdoors. You will learn the practical considerations such as how to set up a painting surface and paints in an outdoor setting as well as technical problem solving such as mixing painting, developing a composition and capturing the ever changing light. 

 

Plein air painting, or painting outdoors from life, is a sensorial immersion in space where what we see is influenced by changing light, scents and sounds of the space. Workshop exercises will focus on  training in the skill of looking. Classes will consist of field trips and hands-on painting, as well as technical instruction and individual guidance. Oil and acrylic painters welcome.

 

To check out some of the work by beginner students from Jeremy's Winter 2013 Painting: Introduction II course if you are curious to learn more about Jeremy's skill as an instructor and his gift a truly enabling students to develop the perceptual skills necessary to paint what they see.

 

Instructor: Jeremy Herndl

Images

Supply List

To register on-line

ART OF THE GARDEN: Ancient World, Medieval and Renaissance
Monday - Thursday, July 15 - 18, 10am - 5pm 

  

Throughout the ancient world, gardens were of particular importance in location, design, and purpose. Gardens may be what was once referred to as the 'sacred', as many early cultures affirmed. In this workshop participants examine the 'sacred' and 'profane,' as well as the political and cultural significance of the earliest known gardens up to the profusion and excitement of the Italian Renaissance gardens. The process of design, built forms, materials and plantings, meanings, and uses of the garden will be covered in the workshop. Participants explore the design of a garden as a comprehensive creative process involving garden construction, horticulture, sculpture, architecture, philosophy, ecology, and ideals. 

 

Teaching takes the form of field trips, hands-on drawing and photography, lectures and class discussions. There will be a class visit to Hatley Park, Royal Roads University in Colwood (there will be an admission charge). No previous art or gardening experience necessary. 

 

Instructor: Susan Hawkins

Images

Supply list

To register on-line

 

PATTERN & DECORATION WORKSHOP
Monday-Wednesday, July 15, 16, 17, 10am-5pm

 

This workshop focuses on analyzing a range of patterns, from the simple to complex, from the geometric to the expressive, and how to use these as a source for drawing. Historical and contemporary patterns will be dissected, deconstructed and re-invented to form the compositional structure for drawings and paintings. 

 

A range of materials will be used including pencils, pen & ink, ink washes, watercolour and gouache. No previous experience necessary. 

 

Instructor: Wendy Welch

Images

Supply List

To register on-line

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 

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)
PAINTING: AMBIGUOUS ABSTRACTION
Monday-Friday, July 22-26, 10am-5pm

  

We are very delighted to have the well-loved John Luna teach a couple of painting workshops for us this summer. 

 

John's first Summer 2013 workshop, Ambiguous Abstraction refers to a kind of abstract imagery that opens up the question of the painting's content to a range of (often provocative) meanings and associations. In opposition to �pure abstraction� where the subject of the painting is its own form, Ambiguous Abstraction flirts with personal and political content, and "can also embrace broad topics such as memory and presence, materiality and transcendence, and the flattening of high and low culture" (Jonathan Lasker). Artists include: Fabian Maracaccio, Terry Winters, Ingrid Calame, Ian McKeever, Beatriz Milhazes, Arturo Herrera and Mark Bradford. No previous experience necessary. Oil and acrylic painters welcome. 

 

Instructor: John Luna

 

HEATHER SPEARS
Poetry Reading & Video, July 8 at 5pm

 

Governor-General Award winning poet and visual artist, Heather Spears, will show a video of her visual art, "Drawn from the Fire" followed by poetry reading. 

 

Her new illustrated book about drawing, vision and the brain, The Creative Eye, catalogues and art cards will be available for signing. 

 

No admission charge. 


Halpern Graduate Student Centre
University of Victoria 

 

Pot luck  afterwards at 

1022 McGregor Ave

RSVP required

Terry: [email protected]

250-595-7519

 


 
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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