Workshop | Intuitive Abstract Painting | 2-Day

PLEASE NOTE this workshop is held over two dates: Part 1 on Tuesday, September 13th & Part 2 on Tuesday September 20th. Students must be able to attend both dates. The ticket price includes both dates, and all materials except for a canvas.

In this two-part workshop, students will learn to activate their intuitive awareness in their painting process. This workshop is designed for the beginner, but also for experienced painters who would like to try a new way of approaching painting. All materials are provided for this course except for an 18” x 24” OR 24” x 24” canvas, which students are required to bring for day two, August 30th.

What to expect:

Day one will include practice in mark making and gestural forms on smaller pieces of paper in black inks and also color studies, before moving on to the canvas on Day two. The objective is for students to see line, motifs, circles, tilts and angles, squares, and brush strokes. This session is explorative and meant to be kept simple and a time for fun! This will include discussions on composition and principles of design.

Day two will include value sketches, exploring overlapping shapes to show relationships, and working on larger pieces of paper and also a canvas*. Combining the principles and practice from day one, students will create a large-scale work through experimenting and following their intuition with paint.

Supplies students must bring:

18″ x 24″ or 24″ x 24″ Canvas of your choice. Any width or wrap OK

Supplies included:

• Acrylic Paint or Fluid Acrylic
• Mixed sizes of Brushes
• White
• Black
• Small canvas
• Your favorites colors too! At least 5 tubes of different colors
• Watercolor Pencils and Charcoal pencils to draw with. (OPTONAL)
• Paper Towels
• Paint Bucket for water (NOT TO BIG)
• Possible cut up old watercolor paper with paint on it. used.
• Gel medium (small)
• Plastic table covers
• Mixing pallet knives

Register Here

** In the event of a cancellation more than seventy two (72) hours prior to the event date, the applicant will receive a refund of the ticket fee. No refund will be given if less than seventy two (72) hours notice of the cancellation is given.

About the teaching artist:

Karen Salup has been teaching in different formats since 1983. Her work unfolds as she composes intuitive images whose references lean to nature. Her intuition developed a vocabulary that consists of idiosyncratic visual poetry through mark-marking. Heavily inspired by prior Abstract Expressionists, Karen follows in creating gestures that bring to the viewer; Form, Texture, Color, and Light.

Although abstract in nature, there is an underlying visual order that gradually emerges. She finds image secondary to process and describes this process as “entering a realm of the unknown” where there is more of a calling than any true direction. Continuously altering and adjusting the core of the painting results in an invisible reality suddenly becoming apparent.

It’s a self-imposed repetitive process guided by emotional intensity as she builds, erases, and paints the scene. A process that illuminates a definite chaos through the work’s shifting inner landscapes. Experience, sensation, and memory color the fluctuating world to ground and fortify an innate sense of place full of subtleties and sensitivities.