Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Fall 2010 Classes!


Hello all,

Because my website designer has gone out of business, I'm posting this kind of information here on my blog for awhile. I have chosen a new designer (I think), but she is not available to work with me until September/October. I hope posting here works.

My classes take place at the Exeter Center for Creative Arts at 30 Linden Street, Exeter, NH (in the old Exeter high school building, now called the Tuck Learning Campus).

To register for any class, email me with your questions or thoughts. It is possible to pay using PayPal through my website; ask for instructions. birchtreestudio@comcast.net

Fall Classes:
Purposeful Play
This is my basic watercolor class which I offered for the first time this past spring. We had so much fun and completed a great deal of work. Due to interest from new folks, I'm offering it again, but with a more fitting title. Students will learn all the basics from how to use a brush, what the different terms in watercolor mean (such as wet-on-wet) and how to apply them, useful information about the materials and the medium and you'll work hard! I offer homework assignments so that you can continue practicing in between classes. You will feel comfortable taking risks and exploring or expanding your creativity in this safe learning environment.

10 Tuesday evenings, Sept. 21 - Nov. 23, 6-8:30pm
$295, plus cost of materials
supply list will be issued upon request or at time of registration


The Art of Sketching

This is my basic drawing course but, like the watrcolor course, it has a more fitting title. This 10-session, 25-hour course will teach you to “see” through drawing. All are welcome: beginning artists will refresh their memory and gain some techniques for practicing both observation and drawing skills while the intermediate artist will have the chance to continue the path started on in previous drawing classes. Each week a different technique in the art of drawing will be presented. The course will provide opportunity to spend ample time on the basic drawing principles of drawing. This will create a better understanding of art and, therefore, allow you to reach your personal goals. Homework assignments will be plentiful in an effort to provide some structure and guidance outside of class time. New and intermediate students welcome!

10 Thursday evenings, Sept. 23 - Dec. 2, 6-8pm
$295, plus cost of materials
supply list will be issued upon request or at time of registration


The Coffee House Series

This is a weekly drop-in class. I supply a sketching or painting lesson each week, from which you can continue to learn and practice. The first two hours are devoted to the lesson, the last hour we hit the nearest coffee shop for a snack while we continue to work. It's been great fun! This is strictly an outdoor class; lessons take place on location and that location changes every few weeks. We've been all over the north shore and up into parts of New Hampshire since I began this a year ago.


You need not possess highly-developed drawing or painting skills; this is, indeed, designed for students who want and need a more structured environment to keep themselves practicing, which they might not do so if left on their own. However, you should have some basic knowledge of drawing or painting, as the basics are not covered in a structural way. All levels welcome. I will post monthly on my blog (or website when that's been updated) what lessons are coming up. All you need to do is sign up ahead of time on a weekly basis so that I know how many folks will be attending. In September I will begin offering this two days a week instead of just one.

Price: $20 per lesson/week
Tuesday mornings, 9am-noon
Saturday mornings, 9am-noon


More still to come! Stay tuned....

Recent Watercolor Sketches






These two sketches were produced in my sketchbook last Friday. Spent the day out in Bradford, NH with my watercolor instructor, Becky Darling, and about six other students. Lovely day. I felt pretty successful here with these little thumbnails. Each is approx. 5 x 5".

Large brush + small space + lots of water & pigment = a very loose painting.

New Stuff

Single Boat
4.5 x 5"
Unframed, $45

This image, plus the one below, were both done during the Seacoast Science Center's Petite Art in the Park event in July. I produced about five small paintings in one day, but these two and one other companion piece, are what I felt most pleased with. They are simple watercolor sketches produced on professional watercolor paper. Simple, clean colors bring a sense of freshness and relaxation to the viewer.

Boats and the Isles of Shoals
10.25 x 6"
Unframed, $65