Art From Intuition by Dean Nimmer

CURES FOR THE WINTER DOLDRUMS

Announcing the new spring painting, drawing and printmaking workshops with Dean Nimmer. These innovative workshops present new opportunities to advance your ideas and techniques and reenergize your enjoyment of making art. Classes are open to all levels of experience.

1.  MONOPRINT VARIATIONS
Sunday, February 23 – 11am to 3pm

We will create off-press monoprints (one-of-a-kind prints) using Plexiglas plates, paper collagraphs, direct transfer and hand-rubbed printing techniques, in combination with collage and drawing and painting methods to achieve unique and dramatic results in your art.

2.  CREATING ABSTRACT ART
Sunday, March 9 – 11am to 3pm

This workshop uses inventive projects found in my new North Light book coming to bookstores across the country this fall. We will explore abstract painting, drawing and mixed media techniques working from observation, memory and your own uninhibited imagination. Even if you are just curious to try something that’s out of your comfort zone, this class will expand your passion to make art!

3.  MAKING ART WITH YOUR ALTER EGO
Sunday, March 23 – 11am to 3pm

Okay I confess, I have an alter ego named “Unique Fredrique” and I’m glad I do! My “mini-me” artist satisfies my insatiable drive to create art without being bound by constraints of any kind. In other words, I invented this odd character so that I can make any kind of art I feel like without worrying about such things as ‘good taste’ or being true to a style of art I’m known for. I designed this special workshop to help others suffering from the dreaded diagnosis called “claustrophobic regressive artistic paralysis.”  You can avoid this pathological disorder – also known as C.R.A.P. – by taking the alter ego workshop so you can be cured and liberated as soon as possible! By the way, part of the cure involves having a lot of fun along the way!

4.  COLLAGE-A-THON
Sunday, April 6 – 11am to 3pm

Collage is a medium that is accessible to everyone who enjoys the simple process of putting curious images and found objects together in art. This class takes advantage of your interest in collage to expand your ideas and techniques using paper, cardboard, wood and other items scavenged from your attic, garage and the trash. The goal for the day is to make as much as we can with no critiques, no guilt and no thinking about “good or bad art”.

5.  STOP WHINING AND DRAW!
Sunday, April 27 – 11am to 3pm

If you procrastinate and obsess about making art, this class is for you! This workshop is a non-stop, no time to think or whine, drawing/painting session that emphasizes passion, process and pleasure over fussy picture making. This marathon session will help you overcome your fears and obstacles to making art while keeping your sanity intact along the way!

6.  REALISM AND ABSTRACTION – THE ODD BEDFELLOWS
Saturday, May 17 – 11am to 3pm

This special workshop focuses on the commonalities and contrasts between painting realistically and taking an abstract approach to observed subjects. Team-taught by myself and realist artist, Paul Leveille, we will teach the group hands-on techniques for drawing and painting in each art form.  Note that this workshop is scheduled on a Saturday May 17 – 11am to 3pm.

7.  ONE ON ONE WORKSHOP
(Day and Time by appointment)

The 3-hour, One On One workshops focus on developing strategies for strengthening your work and encouraging you to explore new directions in your art. The individual meetings can cover a range of topics on a particular technique such as oil, acrylic or watercolor painting, mixed media collage, encaustic wax painting or creating monotypes. All One on One sessions are hands-on classes where we make things and not just talk about aesthetics. These classes can be scheduled with me on any weekday or weekend date that is mutually agreeable from the beginning of March through the end of May 2014.

* All of the workshops are $100 per session if taken separately. A spring season pass that covers admission to all 7 workshops  (including the One on One workshop) is 50% off at $350 or $300 if you don’t want a One on One session.

* Note: Anyone who paid for a One on One session in the fall can arrange a date this spring without an additional fee. Just let me know when you want to schedule it? Contact Dean Nimmer for more information at –deannimmer@gmail.com

* To reserve a place in an individual workshop or make a deposit on a season pass, please send a $50 deposit check made out to: Dean Nimmer 146 Allyn St, Holyoke, MA 01040

* Workshops take place at the Gateway City Arts building at 92 Race Street, Holyoke, MA 01040.

* I will send everyone directions to Gateway City Arts and a recommended list of materials beyond those provided in an email a week prior to the workshop you are enrolled in.

Professor Emeritus, Dean Nimmer, is the author of the successful book, Art from Intuition, and the former Chair of Fine Arts at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. Professor Nimmer is the 2010 winner of the “Distinguished Teaching of Art Award” given by the College Art Association, the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Wisconsin and he’s listed in the Marcus, Who’s Who in American Art for 2013. Dean’s new book, Creating Abstract Art, comes to bookstores in the fall of 2014.