SAXTONS RIVER — Main Street Arts is offering four opportunities for adults and teens to explore carving, painting, and drawing this summer, two each in July and August.
Wood sculptor Dave Tuttle will lead Beginner Woodcarving: Make a Cardinal in a one-day workshop Sunday, July 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The fee is $45 for members and $60 for nonmembers. There will be a limited number of carving knives available to borrow and others to purchase for $10.
Tuttle has been carving since he was a Boy Scout. He has carved with Dave Sabol, Pete Le Clair, and Harold Enlow and has taught carving for the Green Mountain Wood Carvers and the Birds of Vermont Museum. He exhibits his carvings at wood carving shows and arts and craft festivals, and was invited to demonstrate carving in the New Hampshire Building during the Eastern States Exposition.
Lynn Hoeft will offer two Monday sessions focusing on The Texture of Nature using Colored Pencils, July 23 and 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The fee is $24 for members and $32 for nonmembers.
Hoeft said, “Colored pencil is the ideal medium to capture the rough, scaly, fuzzy, shiny, smooth, and hairy textures found in flora and fauna, whether it's snakeskin, tree bark, one perfect rose or a slippery salamander. We'll cover layering, burnishing, sgraffito, and impressed line, among other techniques.”
August's offerings feature two local painters.
Matt Peake will offer a plein air painting workshop Sunday, Aug. 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a fee of $42 for members and $56 for nonmembers.
The group will meet at Main Street Arts for a demonstration and strategy session, then travel to a nearby scenic spot to paint with pastels or water colors or draw with graphite/charcoal. Outdoor easels are encouraged but not necessary. MSA can provide paper, charcoal, and graphite, but participants need to bring their own pastels, watercolors, and watercolor paper if they want to work in that medium.
In case of rain, the group will work indoors from their favorite scenic photographs.
Peake commented of the plein air experience, “Going outdoors to paint or draw is sometimes more romantic a notion than an enjoyable experience. The hot sun, the intense light, the threat of rain, changing shadows, bugs, etc., all make the experience challenging, to say the least, but I would be willing to do this with that disclaimer. And bring a lunch!”
Later in the month, Robert O'Brien will lead Painting Spectacular Flowers Using Watercolors Saturday, Aug. 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a fee of $57 for members and $72 for nonmembers.
The workshop is for all levels of painting, with some drawing experience recommended. Participants will learn basic floral painting techniques, with an emphasis on values and composition. The session will begin with a demonstration by the instructor, followed by class painting. O'Brien will provide hands-on guidance through the process.
The course will focus on painting from photo-reference of flowers in an artistic and close-focus setting. There will be a critique and class discussion at the end of the day. A materials list will be provided upon request.
Well known in the area, O'Brien has been painting in watercolors for 40 years. He has received many awards, most recently, in 2012, a gold medal in the New England Watercolor Society's Spring Juried Signature Members' Exhibition in Boston. Examples of his work can be seen on his website www.robertjobrien.com.
Registration is required for classes by calling 802-869-2960 or emailing info@mainstreetarts.org.