Join Heather Penfield on Saturday, April, 27, 2024 , from 9am – 11am., for the Cooking with Canoe Plants Part 2 Workshop at Volcano Art Center Niaulani Campus.
In this workshop you will dive deeper into the uses of the first edible plants brought to Hawaii by Polynesians, and explore 5 or more different plants and how to prepare them. You will gain hands on experience making recipes from start to finish, including salad, main course and desert. Heather will discuss the nutritional, social and economical benefits on buying locally grown produce. The class will include: class handout with recipes, and in class samples.
You will be using in season produce which includes:
Ulu (breadfruit), Uala (sweet potato), Olena (turmeric), Kalo(taro), Ko(Sugarcane), Mai’a(banana), Niu (coconut), Ohi’a ai (mountain apple), & Ki (ti)
All New Recipes! Beginners are Welcome!
The class fee is $60/$55 for VAC members plus a $20 supply fee
Keiki Drawing Classes with Ken Charon
Tuesdays, 3:30 – 5:00 pm, April 2nd – May 7th
A series of 6 drawing classes for children ages 8 to 14 at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus. Ken’s lessons focus on drawing things from life. Portraits, landscapes, and still-lifes will be encouraged as a way to prepare for more personal imaginary works. Field trips into the Niaulani Rainforest will also be included, weather permitting.
Ken enjoys working with Hawaii’s children and has done so since 1986 with the Artists in the Schools program, as well as in private lessons and summer camps. He has also worked with the developmentally and physically disabled with VSA arts.
Fee: $120/$110 VAC Members plus a $17 supply fee
Financial scholarships are available for those in need. Apply for a scholarship Here
Keiki Drawing Classes with Ken Charon
Tuesdays, 3:30 – 5:00 pm, April 2nd – May 7th
A series of 6 drawing classes for children ages 8 to 14 at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus. Ken’s lessons focus on drawing things from life. Portraits, landscapes, and still-lifes will be encouraged as a way to prepare for more personal imaginary works. Field trips into the Niaulani Rainforest will also be included, weather permitting.
Ken enjoys working with Hawaii’s children and has done so since 1986 with the Artists in the Schools program, as well as in private lessons and summer camps. He has also worked with the developmentally and physically disabled with VSA arts.
Fee: $120/$110 VAC Members plus a $17 supply fee
Financial scholarships are available for those in need. Apply for a scholarship Here
Home Herbalist Workshop with Heather Penfield
Join Heather Penfield on May 11, 2024 at the Volcano Art Center and discover the amazing things you can do with herbal essentials. In this workshop you will learn germ boosting powers of plants & herbs and discover how to use them, and learn the art of making effective remedies at home. You will also watch how the products are made from start to finish, including salve, syrup, tincture, citrus cleaner, hand sanitizer and more.
Includes:
- Class handout with recipes
- In class & take home samples
Class fee is $60/$55 for VAC members plus a $20 supply fee
Iris Thornton, Certified Zentangle Teacher
Zentangle: Rixty Variations: will be held at VAC Niaulani Campus (19-4074 Old Volcano Road), on Saturday, May 11, 2024, from 10am – 1pm.
Zentangle is an easy-to-learn fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. At first glance a Zentangle art piece appears intricate and complicated. But when students are guided through the process, some realize how simple it is and how fun and engrossing it becomes.
Rixty is a fun, simple and dynamic tangle that is odd and familiar at the same time. It may remind you of mushrooms, eucalyptus or even ohia leaves. Rixty is organic, and integrates with other patterns. It will jump right off the page, and at the same time lends itself to easy exploration. A few variations include: whirling, spoking, diverging, mooking, cremini, renegade, heart, line-dancing, trinity, and 3-D.
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This class is open to all levels, no Zentangle or art experience necessary.
Students are encouraged to bring snacks/beverages to share.
Cost is $35/$30 VAC members plus a $15 supply and facility fee.
Join Mary Milelzcik at Volcano Art Centerʻs Niaulani Campus (19-4074 Old Volcano Road) on Saturday, June 22, from 10am – 2:30pm for the Mixed Media Ecaustics workshop. Beginners – Advanced are welcome.
Encaustic is a mixture of beeswax, damar resin and pigment, which is applied to a solid absorbent surface. Each time a new layer is applied, it must be fused. The layers can be enhanced by adding fine art papers, carving with tools or drawing with pigment, oil sticks etc. Photographs can be transferred, and other materials embedded to create a variety of amazing results with depth and luminosity.
This is a hands-on workshop, where you’ll learn safe studio practices, encaustic painting basics, how to make your own medium, and set up an inexpensive encaustic studio. Various encaustic techniques, photo transfer, and shellac burns will be demonstrated. After instruction and experimenting, you will have the opportunity to create two encaustic paintings to take home with you. Mary will provide encaustic paints, panels, and handmade paper to use as substrates, an assortment marking tools and brushes, and interesting papers, photographs, minerals, fibers, and other natural and found materials for students to incorporate into their paintings. Students are encouraged to bring other items they’d like to use.
Students with special projects or questions should email Mary in advance. The class fee is $70/$65 for VAC members plus a $55 supply fee. To register, call Volcano Art Center at 808-967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org. Space is limited. For questions regarding the workshop content, photo transfers, or special projects, please email Mary artsasylum@gmail.com prior to the class.
Waiho’olu’u Ola Indigo Dyeing Fundamentals Workshop
Learn the magical process of creating with nature’s oldest natural dye, indigo. In this workshop, you’ll use traditional methods of banding and folding in traditional and modern resist styles to create patterns as you explore the alchemy of the beautiful plant pigment, indigo.
Learn to dye natural fiber goods in a plant derived indigo vat. Create resist patterns using folding, wrapping, and clamping techniques, as well as how to control hue density with multiple dyeing submersions. You’ll also learn the basic fundamentals of this historic dyeing process. Dyestuff will be provided, and each participant will leave with a new skill and understanding of Indigo Dye as well as their own finished sample pieces.
Participants may bring 1-5 small items of your own to dye, avoiding bulky or heavy pieces (towels, linens, yards of fabric, bedding etc.), as vat space and time are limited. Items must be cotton, linen, hemp, silk, or anything natural – no synthetics or blends, as they accept the color the best. Please pre-wash items in pH neutral soap for best result.
Class fee is $75/$70 (forVAC members) plus a $25 supply fee. No experience is necessary. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.
Waiho’olu’u ola : Living Color Dyery is a creative natural collective started by a husband, Justin (the alchemist) and a wife, Wai‘ala (the artist) duo who work together to share the magic and alchemy of natural living color dyes; including indigo, olena, avocado, hibiscus, etc. Outside the joy of sharing the alchemy of natural dye in workshops with others, the two love sharing their love for the natural plant world and the process of co-creating consciously with nature.
Join Margo on July 13, from 9am – 12:30pm at VAC Niaulani Campus, (19-4074 Old Volcano Road) in the exciting process of designing your own tea towel. Enjoy learning how to print on fabric with an assortment of hand-made stamps and blocks using a variety of techniques. You will exercise your innate design and creative sense to arrange the motifs on the fabric to make original designs and patterns that can liven up your own home or be given as a treasured hand-made gift. You will be able to experiment with the instructor’s block printing collection and will also have the option to carve your own design.
Discover the rewarding aspects of printmaking and fabric design that results in something decorative and useful. This class is a celebration of the experimental nature of stamping and printmaking and will encourage participants to explore the many possibilities of designing on fabric. All supplies and one plain white tea towel per person will be provided. You may bring your own additional (solid color, cotton) fabric pieces to print on, if you wish.
Margo Vitarelli is a printmaker, Pacific art historian, exhibition designer, and art educator who has worked at Hawaii State Art Museum (renamed Capitol Modern), the East West Center, University of Hawaii OSHER Program, Manoa Heritage Center, and Mission Houses Museum.
Class fee is $70/($65 for VAC members) plus a $25 supply fee. No experience is necessary. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.
Experimental Catalyst Abstract Watercolors
Join Big Island artist, Patti Pease Johnson for the Experimental Watercolors workshop on Saturday, August 3rd, from 9am – 12:30pm at Volcano Art Center. Cost for the workshop is $75 and $70 for VAC Members plus a $15 supply fee. Beginner and intermediate artists are welcome.
Imagine glass being shattered. The random shapes and patterns are totally unpredictable. Now take these haphazard glass pieces and marry them with watercolors; then add your own playful attitude. This is Experimental Watercolors! Like music on paper, colors flow in delicate waves.
Each student will create three to five separate 8×8 inch watercolor paintings on cold press watercolor paper using pre-broken glass as a catalyst to spark creativity. Students will also be taught theories of good composition, along with color theory and color wheel use. Abstract qualities are the focus in this workshop using three – four paints right out of the tube with the glass. After the first drying and glass removal, each piece is brought to further expressiveness by using detailed watercolor techniques of washes, spatters, lifting, value gradations, dry brush and more.
When asked to describe the experience Patti explained, “You can’t help but wonder what is going to happen after your first piece of glass is put on watercolor paper. In painting, the more chances you take, the more you will stretch the limits of your understanding, and in turn the more you will grow as an artist.”
Patti Pease Johnson’s artwork can be found at galleries and shops across the State and in collections around the world.
Pen Sketching & Watercolor Washes with Patti Pease Johnson
Saturday, September 7, 2024, from 9 am – 12:30 pm at VAC Niaulani Campus in Volcano, Village.
Learn mixed media line and wash technique on 6 x 9” watercolor paper and create 2 paintings in the 3 ½ hour session. “It’s a great size for journal travel recording for lively illustrative looks,” says instructor Patti Pease Johnson. This workshop is a chance for beginners and intermediate students to experiment with simplified line exaggerations and painting outside the lines. All materials are supplied so it gives a person a chance to see if this is their creativity spark before investing in the materials.
“Simple line drawing for the outside of objects is what it’s about,” says Patti. “Make it a suggestion of the object. Draw and paint loosely. For example, no need to complete the leaf outside edge, have a closed petal on a flower, or a tree with full branches. White space is good, chant it when you begin painting,”
Your intuition and playful attitude are part of this journey. First is a discussion by looking at many samples and asking the question: is it about drawing vs. color? Students then practice the minimal drawing first on newsprint from looking at a simple still-life setup. Then it is redrawn on the watercolor paper, and outlined suggestively with the permanent black fine-tip pen. Students learn a pen hashing technique for the darkest darks and cast shadows; plus learn watercolor techniques of washes, blending, glazing, dry brush, and lift-off. A 4-page handout with a basic 10-step procedure lets you remember the steps.
Patti Pease Johnson has been a working artist for 27 years and a teacher of various mediums including two other watercolor techniques, soft pastel still life, and Plein air landscapes. Her workshops for painting on silk using liquid dye and wax resist. She has had artwork in numerous juried shows and has collectors in many parts of the world through gallery sales around the state of Hawaii.
The cost is $75/$70 for VAC members, plus $10 supply fee, and a $5 registration fee. For more information call (808) 967-8222.
Paint Your Own Silk Scarf with Patti Pease Johnson
Big Island artist and instructor Patti Pease Johnson teaches the Paint Your Own Silk Scarf workshop on Saturday, December 14th, from 9:00am-12:30pm at Volcano Art Center.
In this workshop, you’ll paint your own 8” x 53” scarf using three colors of your choice, which will create many more colors on the silk. Pick a main color, then, choose the other two after learning about color theory. You’ll then be ready to mix your desired colors, achieved by pre-mixing the four process colors of dye (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). Students from previous classes have been amazed by what they refer to as “happy color accidents.”
Johnson will tell you, “It’s all about playing with colors. I supply all materials and guidance, you create. The fun time is your art journey for a few hours.” Beginner and intermediate artists are welcome. Open up your creativity and challenge yourself by learning this fun technique. It’s guaranteed to change the way you look at color.
Cost is $75 and $70 for VAC members plus a $15 fee per person, inclusive of supplies.
In the final hour, students will use hot wax with the tjanting tool on Habotai silk to outline your more representational design and create a resist line for the dyes. Then you will paint and mix colors on the 10” x 10” silk artwork.
Patti Pease Johnson’s artwork can be found at galleries and shops across the State and in collections around the world. Patti has a designer’s ability to distill natural subjects into their most essential forms and to rearrange them in her paintings. Her artworks include sculpture, mobiles, fashions, soft pastels, and clay objects in abstract and expressionist styles.