This course invites you to slow down, tune in, and reconnect—with yourself and your creativity—through the grounding, meditative act of drawing. Each session combines mindful attention with art-making, offering guidance in traditional techniques and intuitive, expressive mark-making.

You’ll work with a variety of tools and techniques—from pencil and charcoal to ink and brush—using drawing as a practice of meditation, reflection, learning, and creative exploration. Along the way, you’ll build confidence, skills, and discover how drawing can support clarity, calm, and well-being in a supportive community. 

The last session of the series will culminate with a special event.

No prior experience necessary—all levels welcome. I look forward to seeing those of you who have been to my past workshops and to welcoming new participants to join us. Bring curiosity, openness, and a willingness to pause and make your mark.

Cost: $175 for members, $200 for non-members for 6 week series

Lynda Monick-Isenberg is a visual artist and educator on equal terms. Minneapolis College of Art and Design professor emeritus Lynda taught Foundational Drawing and created their Teaching Artist Programming during her tenure. Her work is included in a number of collections including the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Minnesota Historical Society and Weisman Art Museum. She continues to teach, mentor and maintain an active studio practice while participating in the development and implementation of community-based teaching residencies and curriculum development for organizations and communities throughout the United States.

www.lyndamonickisenberg.com

How do you turn an idea or a vivid dream into a finished drawing? Learn from veteran Disney effects animator Mauro Maressa in this hands-on drawing workshop focused on turning ideas into finished artwork. Designed to help you get started and develop a clear creative path. Participants will work through a structured process, from thumbnails and composition to gathering reference, offering practical tools to move ideas from imagination to paper. 

Instructor Bio: Mauro Maressa has been drawing and painting since an early age and brings more than 40 years of experience as a fine artist and animator. He holds a degree in fine arts from the New England School of Art in Boston and earned his BFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

Mauro has created both large-scale sculptural works and smaller studio projects and spent decades working as a Disney effects animator. He is the author of Essential Effects: Water, Fire, Wind, and More, a respected reference in traditional effects animation. 

Since 2018, Mauro has been a permanent resident of Cambria, where he exhibits his paintings and illustrations at the Cambria Center for the Arts. He and his wife also operate a local gallery showcasing his artwork alongside her photography. 

Fee: $125 members, $150 non members

Materials needed: Sketchpad, pencils or pens, eraser, ruler, and a phone or iPad for gathering reference images.

At the Threshold Between Impressionism and Realism 

Learn how to paint lively, expressive paintings with a focus on colour accuracy, mark making and the interconnection of all elements. Value, colour mixing, edges, principles of design and composition, as well as concepts of light and shadow are all part of this workshop and considered part of a solid foundation in painting. In this workshop you'll learn Alla Prima/ wet on wet style techniques which will help bring your painting skills to the next level! Frank's classes reach beyond technique, observing the elusive balance of forces that create beauty in painting.He has 15 years of teaching experience around the USA and Europe.

Portfolio: www.frankeber.com

Small class settings only. Please sign up early!

$350 for members, $375 for non members

Program: This is going to be a very special experience providing two different forms of fiber art forms into a weekend workshop:

Saturday: Layered assemblage piece

Sunday: Coil baskets 

Layered Fabric Assemblage

Learn to create a truly unique and stunning art piece, with multiple layers and textures of fabric. Students will learn many techniques for creating a base, covered with beautiful overlays of fabric, surrounded by shapes that extend outward, giving the piece added shape, dimension and excitement. The final piece will hang on the wall. No sewing involved, no art experience necessary, and perfect for all levels, from beginning through advanced artists. 

Vivacious Vessels: Fiber Wrapped Coil Baskets

We'll wrap beautiful fabric strips around a cotton core, and then use fancy yarns and strings to secure and coil it all into an elaborate basket, creating any shape that you choose. We'll decorate the piece with embellishments, handles, or anything that excites your aesthetic sensibilities. No art or basket-making experience is necessary and all levels are most welcome.

Instructor: Vicki is an experimental and innovative fiber artist and instructor, always finding new and unique ways to work with textiles and fibers. Through her creative process, she explores many ways to weave, layer, attach, coil, tie, knot, twist, build and develop her pieces so they are vibrant and engaging. She then shares all of her techniques with her students, supporting and inspiring them to fully engage in their own creative process of discovery and expression. Vicki teaches at art schools and retreats around the country as well as teaching groups privately. She has exhibited and sold her work at galleries, businesses, health centers, restaurants, community centers, museums, and open studio events.

Fee: $250.00 for members, $275 for non-members

Materials: Instructor will provide all materials and tools. $65 Material fee to be collected by the instructor the morning of the class. Students are welcome to bring additional fabrics, yarns and decorative items to add to your creations. If you have them, please bring fabric scissors and sewing needles and thread. 

At the Threshold Between Impressionism and Realism 

Learn how to paint lively, expressive paintings with a focus on colour accuracy, mark making and the interconnection of all elements. Value, colour mixing, edges, principles of design and composition, as well as concepts of light and shadow are all part of this workshop and considered part of a solid foundation in painting. In this workshop you'll learn Alla Prima/ wet on wet style techniques which will help bring your painting skills to the next level! Frank's classes reach beyond technique, observing the elusive balance of forces that create beauty in painting.He has 15 years of teaching experience around the USA and Europe.

Portfolio: www.frankeber.com

Small class settings only. Please sign up early!

$350 for members, $375 for non members

Two Day Workshop 

Photos are a terrific tool for a painter. They provide reference and angles that would be difficult to get, including action. 

The key is to know how to work from a photo and the FOCUS of this workshop.

This two day workshop is divided into THREE parts. 

PART ONE. I’ll talk about what type of camera equipment I use, including cell phones, still and video cameras and some things to look out for including taking photographs at night. One tip - most cell phones tend to shoot images that are slightly distorted, very wide angled, creating distortion in your painting if you’re trying to copy it exactly.

PART TWO. In the second part of the workshop I'll be talking about how to prepare the photo, either as a print or working from a computer image. In the workshop we’ll be working from printed still images that I’ll provide. (If you have an image you’d like to paint from that’s fine). I encourage you to try and work from a photo with strong lights and dark values and sufficient color information. Most photographs tend to wash out the color and the dark areas tend to go overly dark. For example, shadow areas in an image have a lot more color in them (from reflected light) than the photographs reveal.

PART THREE. I’ll focus on the actual process of painting from the photograph including tips on transferring the image to your canvas. I’ll also cover probably the biggest problem working from a photo - Focus. Unlike a photograph, which is generally all in focus, the human eye sees roughly 20% in focus and the rest is peripheral vision and slightly blurred so the key is to paint like your eyes see and not what the photograph is telling you.

It’s also best to work from your own photographs. Not only do you own the rights to the image but since you’ve taken the picture, you’ve already pre-composed the image.

I’ll begin the workshop with a short slideshow and a simple demonstration painting from a photo. To see more of George Scribner's work visit: scribnerart.com

$250 for CCA members, $275 for non-members

Does your heart sing when you see a light-drenched still life painting? 

Do you hit roadblocks when you paint, or are you overwhelmed by all the considerations in creating a well-designed and executed painting?  Do you get stuck, not knowing what to do next? 

Are you a painter who has some familiarity with basic painting concepts and skills, such as understanding values, mixing color, and paint application? 

Come join Debbie Mueller for a 3 day still life workshop where she will break down the creation of a painting into simple steps that allow the painter to focus their decision making and efforts on one thing at a time leading to two successful pieces of art during the weekend.

The techniques taught during the workshop will be practiced using still life, but are completely appropriate and useful for any subject- landscape, portrait, interiors, etc. This is primarily an oil painting workshop. Acrylics or Gouache may be used as well, though certain techniques may not work as well with these mediums.

Bio: 

Debbie Mueller picked up a paintbrush for the first time in her 50s and has become an award-winning artist with recognition for both her still life and landscape paintings. Her story, her passion and success could encourage those of us who might think we are too old, or too something, to try a new pursuit, and find our next chapter in life. She is a juried artist at the Rockport Art Association and is represented by a number of wonderful galleries in New England and Texas. She has exhibited in numerous national juried exhibitions and was the first-place winner of theArt2Life National Exhibition in 2023. She lives in Durham, NH and practices medicine in Wolfeboro, NH. 

Learn more about the artist and see her work at debbiemuellerart.com.