I’ve been honored to be invited to Ferry Beach in Saco, Maine to teach my Non-traditional Surfaces and Techniques in Pastel workshop. This was sponsored by the wonderful people from the Pastel Society of Maine, whose Plein Air Pastel Retreat you’ve seen me enthusiastically blog about each June. I’ve  taught my Adventures in Abstraction class to them two years ago (see here), so I was back “by popular demand.”

We had a small class, only ten people, one of whom unfortunately was unable to come at the last minute. The venue is wonderful– a brightly lit, large room right on the ocean, with lodging upstairs, and meals provided in the next building over. Three of us arrived the night before to set up, and I had brought a whole carload of supplies to share.

Many of the students I already knew, having taught them before. Some students I knew from the Creative Arts Camp I attend each August in Maine, others from the retreat or from exhibit receptions, and one new face found the workshop by googling pastel workshops in Maine.

A few students are peers and very accomplished, several were rote beginners, with the rest spanning all the experience levels between. But regardless, everyone was highly engaged, very happy, did exceptionally well, and contributed beautifully. One beginner said that since the class would explore non-traditional approaches, she felt comfortable coming, because the material would be new to everyone, which was both wise and true.

Many of the approaches I share in this workshop are proprietary; it is like giving away the state secrets or crown jewels. In the morning, they made different textured surfaces, producing labeled samples to refer to in their future independent work. They also tried wet-in-wet techniques on a favorite synthetic fiber that I use often. In the afternoon, we explored unusual methods on a popular sanded surface called PastelMat, and ended the day with a sharing time to discuss what each had done.

As you can see in the many photos below, it was a full day of attentive creativity. It was a total delight for me to open their eyes to a wider range of possibilities, set them free to make some of my ideas their own, and nurture them through the process. We are all looking forward to two mare days!