I have given myself my favorite sort of birthday present--splurging on six online art classes. Over the past four years or so, I find that I love taking classes at my own pace far more than in person classes.
The first one Pam and I are both taking: Wanderlust led by a teacher from Poland who invites a variety of teachers from all over the world to present a weekly class. We've both signed up for Wanderlust in past years, then we took a break, but neither of us could resist the early-bird special for 2024.
Similar in structure is one called Art is Magic. I'm hoping to learn a few things from it, but my first few classes were disappointing, probably because I've had similar classes before and the teaching is spotty.
Anything San Antonio artist Lyn Belisle teaches is stellar! She offers a variety of collage and encaustics classes on her website and I've never been disappointed. My favorite is Postcards to Myself--which I used to make six collages for Carlene a couple of years ago, all incorporating old family photos.
The Handmade Book Club--while I'm taking a break from membership for a bit--offers a quarterly Five-Day Challenge for practically no cost, $5 this year, for five days of instructions on a single binding technique. It runs the gamut from complex leather-covered books to simpler book constructions. Ali Manning is an excellent teacher--as are her guest artists--and she's an expert in the history of different papers and designs.
I'm loving the Gel Print Summit hosted by Drew Steinbrecher. Fourteen gel print artists offer classes in a variety of things that can be done with gel plate mono printing--including image transfer and geo-printing (using actual twigs and leaves and flowers). Along with Ali's and Lyn's, these are the most professionally organized and interesting classes I've taken. Most of the teachers are from Australia, the Netherlands, and England. (There's not a dud in the bunch!)
Not only are the fourteen classes worthy of several views, but if you follow the trail of each teacher to his or her website, you can find links to other online workshops. I've signed up for cyanotypes and "Beyond the Basics of Gel Printing" by two of the best teachers at the summit.
I cannot describe how thrilling it is to have all this learning and playing to look forward to for the upcoming year and beyond. It's like opening a present every day.
If anyone is interested in more details, just let me know and I'll send links.
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