March classes added

It’s early morning here in Calgary and it promises to be a nice sunny day. At least the polar vortex is over and we get to enjoy some nice temperatures.

It’s been busy here in the studio. I finished a collaboration piece in early February with Shell Rummel and now the piece is in Florida. A few photos below of the finished project, using Time & Tide collection by Shell and my Rocks, Pebbles & Stones. It’s called “Low Tide at Rocky Point”.

If you’d like to learn how to make your own Rocks Pebbles & Stones, join my next live online workshop on March 4th at 9:00 a.m. Mountain. Link to the online workshop here. I will show you how to make the rocks and pebbles and two different techniques to apply them to your work. There is an optional kit that includes all the materials you’ll need for the class. You’ll only need to provide scissors, a glue stick and a pen. Find the kit here. You will find several kits listed, as each has a different background for you to choose from.

The next workshop being offered is one of my favourites to teach – although, if I have to be honest, I enjoy teaching all of them, but some of them have a “je ne sais quoi” that makes them a bit more exciting. “Monoprinting without a Press” is offered on March 15th at 9:00 a.m. Mountain. Although the supply list looks extensive, you can use any fabric to monoprint on and any type of paint – acrylic or fabric paint, all depending on the use you will give the final product. Students will also be learning how to make their own stamp plates, stencils and masks to use during the class. You can find the link here.

There’s an optional companion kit with materials to make the stamps and other textures to use during the workshop. You can find the kit here.

Acrylic skins, a somewhat new workshop as it’s being offered for the second time, is a two-hour combination of hands-on and demo. You will learn different techniques to make acrylic skins and I will then demo how to finish them (they need to be dry) and how to apply them to your sketchbook or fiber art. The link for acrylic skins is here and it’s being offered on March 17th at 10:00 a.m.

On March 19th, a new session of “Make your Quilts sing with digital imagery – Editing photos in PowerPoint” is being offered. In this 2-hour demo workshop I will share my screen to show you how to edit photos in PowerPoint: removing background, adjusting colour and adding filters, working with layers, transparency, etc. PowerPoint is very powerful for image editing and simpler to use than other photo editing programs. Care to join me? Link here. This workshop is the perfect companion to the “Introduction to Artist Transfer Paper – TAP” as it will show you how to edit photos and place them on PowerPoint before printing onto the paper.

The final workshop for March takes place on the 29th and is the Introduction to Transfer Artist Paper – TAP. It’s a 2-hour workshop where you’ll learn tips and tricks to use this transfer paper with your own images to use in your work. I use TAP extensively and I love it. It’s simple to use, you can print your own images on an inkjet printer, you can draw on it, photocopy on it, etc. It’s very versatile and the results are amazing! Click here to go to the workshop.

I offer a companion kit that has a few sheets with images printed on them for your use so you can have everything ready to get started. Click here for the link to the kit. Once you learn a few tricks, you can work with your own images. You can also purchase the paper on my website here; it comes in 5-page and 18-page packages. The 18-page package is a better price if you are planning on doing quite a bit of work with images. Trust me, once you learn how to use it, you’ll be hooked!

I hope you will find one, two or three workshops interesting . If you’ve taken one of these workshops with me before, and would like to take it again as a refresher, or a chance to just come and play with others, send me an email. I offer deep discounts to returning students.

I have a few workshops to teach this week and some work to do for workshops I’m taking. A few deadlines loom. If you follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook, you’ll see some of the work I’m doing. I’ve joined the 100 Day Project this year again and I am working with rocks but this year, I’m trying something a bit different: to replicate one of my rocks a day with fabric and stitch.

I hope everyone has a good week. Stay safe if you go out. Thanks for reading and keep creating.

Ana