Throughout its history, printmaking has been used to tell stories, whether in partnership with a written text or through images that stand alone. In this course you will draw inspiration from narrative traditions in Italian art and from a personally significant myth, poem, or story. Printmakers and graphic storytellers Ursula West Minervini and Jonathan Poliszuk will guide you in creating of a series of prints that explore a text of your choosing. Friday trips to Rome and to the Fabriano Museum of Paper and Watermark will inspire us and deepen our understanding of illustrative imagery and printmaking in the history of Italian art.
We will study two printmaking techniques in which bright marks are pulled from a dark ground: Reductive Monotype and Woodcut. You will work in monotype to explore broadly and develop your ideas, choose one or more images to develop more purposefully in woodcut, and then combine the techniques to create expressive, colorful images.
Monotypes are unique prints. In reductive monotype a plate is coated with a layer of printing ink and light tones are scraped, dabbed, or brushed away to create a luminous, gestural image, which is printed by hand or with a press. The process is superficially similar to drawing or painting, but the image undergoes a transformation in the transfer of ink from a prepared plate onto printing paper. Working in monotype invites exploration, risk-taking, and an openness to surprise and discovery.
Woodcut is perhaps the oldest form of printmaking, and is inextricably linked with the history of books and illustration. The surface of a woodblock is inked and printed after carving away all but the intended design. The carving process is meditative and purposeful, and many identical or varying impressions can be produced from a single carved block. The technique lends itself to bold, graphic expression, but is also capable of producing subtle textures and intricate detail.
In our first week, you will begin by working rapidly through a series of reductive monotypes, boldly exploring multiple aspects of your chosen text. Through this exploration, you will arrive at themes and compositions that you wish to work with more purposefully, and undertake the design and carving of one or more woodcuts.
In the second week Ursula and Jonathon will guide you through the nuances of the printing process. You will create editions, explore layered color printing, and combine techniques in prints that meld the graphic impact of woodcut with the expressive fluidity of monotype. The class will culminate in a group show in which students will present their new body of work.
For more information, contact us.
Lead by Jerry Pellegrino, the chef/owner of Schola Cooking School in Baltimore, Maryland. The pleasures of wine fascinates Chef Pellegrino, as it is always paired beautifully with his cuisine. He will lead a lucky few on an intensive exploration of Umbrian wine, visiting 13 vineyards throughout the region.
He is currently the co-owner of Schola, a private cooking school, located in the heart of Baltimore’s historic Mt. Vernon district. He and his partner, Chef Amy von Lange, teach hands-on classes to a variety of students covering a vast curriculum. For 15 years, Chef Pellegrino has served as the Vice Chancellor Culinaire of the Baltimore Bailliage of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers and often featured in cooking segments on local television. He is the co-host of the long running radio show on NPR 88.1FM, WYPR’s “Radio Kitchen”. He has been nominated various years as Chef of the Year, awarded by Baltimore’s Academy of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality and was named One of Maryland’s 50 Most Influential People in 2017. For a full list of awards and honors, head to www.scholacooks.com or download his full bio.
For the full itinerary, click here. For more information, contact us.
Where we live, visit, and create can be a great source of inspiration. In this workshop we will view our surroundings with visitor’s eyes and make note of the details that appeal to us and draw us in. We will translate those details, from mundane to exceptional, (a window, archway, flower, fruit, bottle, hat, etc.) into simple repeatable images using stencils, block prints, and image transfers. You will learn surface design techniques including printing, stitching, mending, embroidery, collage, and dyeing and painting with local earth pigments, etc. Our richly layered papers and fabric will be made into books, scrolls, wall pieces, vessels, bags, and objects. Jody will teach students a number of bookmaking and paper structure techniques as well as how to construct items out of fabric including books, bags, pockets, vessels and other objects. By the end of the workshop each of us will have a different but cohesive collection of richly layered items communicating a sense of place that will be arranged into personal installations.
Field trips will serve as source material and inspiration gathering expeditions as well as personal enrichment. Trips will include visits to Florence and Rome.
For more information, contact us.
Master Printer Ian Jackson leads a 2-week intaglio workshop at the International Center for the Arts.
Intaglio (from the Italian tagliare, meaning to carve or cut), is the term encompassing the multitude of printmaking techniques where a mark incised in a plate holds ink while the surface is wiped clean before printing.
Drawing directly into copper plates by raising a metal burr with sharp implements, participants will learn the exquisite craft of drypoint and produce hand-wiped prints of original drawings.
Drypoint is uniquely prized among artists and collectors for its velvety-rich line quality and sfumato-like tonality, achievable only through careful scraping and polishing.
Within the walls of the medieval village of Monte Castello di Vibio high above the countryside, artists will find no shortage of inspiration. One wakes up in the morning, takes a step from their doorway, and is immediately overcome by the impulse to draw everything within sight: hillsides dotted in olive groves smeared in dazzling Umbrian sunlight; thick stone architecture casting long shadows; a tranquil studio filled with diffuse natural light, waiting to be occupied.
Over the course of the 2-week workshop, participants will learn every step of the drypoint printing process while refining their own drawings through the frequent repetition of proofing, critiquing, and editing, culminating in the production of their own edition and a group show.
For more information, contact us.
Chance Morgan is the founder and owner of the Native Meat Company. An accomplished chef, he began producing his artisanal meats because of an interest in utilizing regionally raised animals and exploring traditional preparations in curing and smoking meats. A renowned craftsman in this practice, his production has been compared to the finest European cured meats. On the other hand, his knowledge of American traditions, such as boudin and andouille sausage making, is equally acknowledged. These factors make Chance the ideal guide with whom to explore the world of Italian – and Umbrian - Salumi, in its extraordinary diversity and sophistication. Participants in the course will make a variety of whole-meat, as well as chopped meat types and methods, beginning with butchering the whole animal (both wild boar and domestic pigs) to curing and preserving and aging the meats. The group will travel along with the Food and Wine Tour to Florence and to Norcia in order to experience Tuscan traditions as well as the “Mecca” of cured meats from which Italian “norcini” (butchers) get their name.
Working on heavy grade watercolor paper, using ink and watercolor, students will employ geometry, line, shape and form to create 2 non-objective paintings.
We will research designs and interpret them for our various individual projects during the second week. Please feel free to bring your design ideas and other inspirational materials to adapt as well.
As inspiration, we will be looking at historic designs found in art and architecture during our trips to both Florence and Rome.
We will be using a variety of techniques gained from studies in both European and Indian processes (including; color filling, line and design work, burnishing, washing, sanding and waxing),
Students will aim to create a harmonious balance from a mix of structure and improvisation by daily:
Meditation— finding thoughtless awareness through the use of affirmations, self awareness and inner peace.
Yoga— basic Hatha yoga practice allowing the student to slow down, tune into oneself and ones breathing and let the body guide you through simple movements such as Surya Namaskar.
Mindful observation 1— sit in silence drawing an object for three minutes, at the end of this time restart, drawing the same object again. 30 minutes.
Mindful observation 2— using the senses to raise awareness and explore imagination through the use of taste, touch and sound.
The course will be run with the help of Danish artist and assistant Emma Holm.
For more information, contact us.
The International Center for the Arts is proud to announce a Masterclass with renowned wood-sculptor Bruno Walpoth. Known for the uncanny presence of an internal presence, his lifelike sculptures have been regarded as possessing an almost metaphysical presence: “Bruno Walpoth’s work proves how strong the spell is; his statues are not objects, rather almost animate creations with souls, their feelings bare for the viewer to see.”
The two-week intensive requires experience in working from the human figure on a life-sized scale, as well as at least two years of experience in working with wood. Those interested in admission should provide a C.V. and Artists Statement, as well as 10-20 images of work demonstrating a degree of proficiency in these areas. Participation in the Masterclass is limited to 8.
Participants will be provided with a select log of walnut and worksurface, but must provide their own chisels, rasps, and mallet – although these tools will also be available in our art supply store. The group will be provided with a model and working intensely each participant will produce a life -sized bust. As part of the class, the group will make an excursion to Florence in order to study wooden sculpture in various collections. An optional trip to the National Gallery of Umbria, in Perugia will be available as well.
For more information, contact us.
August 15–29, 2021
We present a unique opportunity to master the two different ways of pursuing street photography. We shall call them “Fishing” and “Hunting”, and they depend on one’s self and the circumstances you face when trying to photograph strangers in the street.
Fishing implies patience, effort, offering something to the other, a way of seduction, a slow pace approach to people that interest you, convincing them to voluntarily and even happily allow you to shoot their image.
Dominique will teach you how to overcome the fear of approaching strangers asking for a photo, how to empathize with them, how to connect with your subjects, creating a friendly atmosphere and avoiding negative reactions. As a result, you will not only get better portraits but also have fun and make new friends.
Hunting means jumping at the occasion to get a candid photo as a testimony of reality, capturing the image without being seen, stealing them in a way, seeing without being seen.
Ximena will teach you how to navigate a hectic world where we look but often don’t see, to immerse yourself in a quasi-meditative-contemplative state to sharpen your gaze to discover and portray details that escape us. How to use photography as a way to slow down one’s mind, connect with the landscape, others and yours, anticipating events through conscious observation, allowing you to capture the decisive moment. As a result, you capture unforgettable images but also better understand yourself in the process.
The end result of this workshop is to help each participant master the different tools that allow you to find or perfect your own photographic style; and to improve and develop your street photography by adapting it to different contexts.
At the end of this workshop, the best images of the participants will be printed and exhibited in ICA’s gallery with a gallery opening.
For more information, contact us.
Focusing on the accurate portrayal of anatomy, posture and gesture, we will investigate the communication of complex emotion and narrative context through building a full human figure. Details of hands, feet, hair, facial expression and fabric folds will be emphasized during this two week workshop. Kevin Rohde will lead participants through the process of constructing full figures 24” tall using a unique armature process and solid building method. Once the armatures are removed, the pieces will be hollowed out and completed, covering the ceramic slip and cold finishing process.
We will also be going on two day-trips to either Florence or Rome and either Siena or Perugia, exploring those great cities’ rich sculptural heritage. For more information, contact us.
Drawn to Color and Light is a unique opportunity to discover or improve your drawing skills through the lens of some of the great artists of the New York school. Surrounded by the color and light of Umbria, we will focus particularly on ideas about color and space emphasized in the teaching of Hans Hofmann, as well as his student, Mercedes Matter, with whom I studied in New York. It can be hard to slow down and actually look at things, especially when travelling. Sight-seeing doesn’t always include really seeing in the ways that Hofmann and Matter passionately taught. This week-long workshop on drawing and color provides participants with the time to stop, look and draw.
Over the course of this workshop, you will practice drawing exercises developed to help you to see in new ways. You will focus on the basic elements of drawing as stressed by Hofmann and his school – line, shape, value, space, form, texture—and especially color! In order to facilitate this, we will begin with a pastel-making workshop in order to provide information on that medium as well as to expand the repertoire of your drawing media.
Each day will include a morning session that shares practical information about materials and methods and introduces exercises using a specific drawing element and one of the color contrasts. Classes will continue in the afternoon either outdoors in the walled town, or in the studio. Before dinner, we’ll gather to look at and discuss the day’s work. There will be a field trip on Friday to Assisi, with the opportunity to draw from Giotto’s famous frescos (Hofmann would be thrilled!).
The workshop is appropriate for beginning artists as well as those who wish to refresh and improve their skills.
For more information, contact us.
September 30–October 9, 2021
