A DIALOGUE WITH THE EARTH
Join mixed media artist Bridgette Guerzon Mills in a mixed media exploration in allowing nature to be our guide in creating artwork in book form. We will explore our environment for natural materials to act as inspiration and jumping off points for design and concept, as well as elements with the pages of our handbound books and mixed media pieces. We will use art as the bridge to explore reconnecting to the earth as our hands dialogue with nature and create earthy works of art.
“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”
Bridgette will lead the class through a variety of mixed media techniques that draw upon elements found in her creative practice: encaustic, fabric, thread, photo transfers, collage and the addition of natural elements. We will use plaster, fabric and found natural materials to create book art pieces.
This mixed media exploration will act as a bridge to reconnect us to the stories of the earth around us
Itinerary
Day 1, August 8
Class starts at 9:30 Intro to encaustic — painting and mixed media techniques such as transfers, glazing, collage on 5x7 inch panels that will eventually be book covers for an accordion (paper) book
Prepping of plaster for pages—for either a hanging book or to be attached to branches that can be bound together
Selecting and prepping bark pieces to use for book covers
We will break for lunch and class will be over at 4:30
Day 2, August 9
Class starts at 9:30. Discussion of using natural materials in artwork, create our own small nature art meditations, take natural elements apart and designing with them.
Fabric and wax demo and attaching natural and found materials to it, make pages out of fabric and attaching natural elements to them.
Plaster cloth and wax demos and discussion of binding plaster pages, make a collection of plaster pages with encaustic transfers and collage and natural elements attached to them.
We will break for lunch and class is over at 4:30.
Day 3 August 10
Class starts at 9:30. Bridgette will demo accordion construction with paper for covers made on day 1 (optional to make these covers into a book or leave as paintings)
Demo of using encaustic + paper
Demo of attaching smaller pieces to bound pages
Continue working on binding plaster pages and fabric pages
Lunch and dinner will be provided today.
Day 4 August 11
Class will start at 9:30. We will continue to work and finish up our books. After lunch we will finish any last minute details, clean up and have our show “n tell. Class will be over at 3:30 p.m.
This Art Escape includes
Four days instruction from Bridgette
A beautiful studio to create in
4 lunches, 1 dinner
some supplies
new tribe
The cost for this Escape is $900. A $500 nonrefundable deposit is due upon registering. The remaining $400 dollars is due May 14, 2024.
Port Orchard is the site for the workshop. The location is 9 miles north of Gig Harbor, WA which is listed as one of the most desirable cities in the US to visit (or live). It is located south of Seattle, across the Narrows Bridge on Hwy 16.
The Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter stops in Gig Harbor and in Port Orchard.
There are many Arbnbs and B&Bs in the area. A list of accommodations will be provided if requested
We will Provide
Electric palettes for encaustic
Drills with drill bits
Wood glue
Spray bottles
Bookbinding needles
Burnishing tool
Paper towels
Glue sticks
Embroidery floss
Collage materials
Fabric scraps
Single edge razor blades
Bark for covers
waxed paper
Student Supply List
Awl
Scissors
Exacto Knife with extra blades
1 roll of plaster cloth 4”x180” (Dick Blick carries its own brand called Blick Plaster Cloth
1 yard white cotton muslin
Favorite oil bar or oil paint for glazing techniques (Bridgette’s favorites for creating earthy glazes are burnt umber, burnt sienna, ochre
Natural materials such as sticks, leaves, pine cones, seeds, etc. You may also forage in the woods adjacent to the studio
Images to collage. Can be photographs that are printed on regular paper (non-photographic paper). They can be inkjet or laser prints, black and white photocopies (images should be smaller than 8x8 inches), or they can be drawings on a variety of papers
Images to transfer: black and white photocopies (images should be smaller than 8x8 inches)
Apron
Heat gun - if you have one please bring it.
Secret Language of Trees
Primordial Lessons
Bellissima Art Studio
Bridgette Guerzon Mills is a mixed media artist whose work incorporates a variety of materials including photography, paint, encaustic, as well as fiber, textiles, and other reclaimed materials. Her artwork and journals have been published in magazines and books and her work has been collected in the United States and internationally. She currently resides in Towson, MD with her family.
As a mixed media artist, encaustic is a versatile medium that allows her to create depth in layers and serves as a means for further exploration in both form and meaning. She combines her photography with encaustics to create a bridge between two worlds, the real and the reconstructed. The canvas becomes a multilayered surface that speaks to both the visual and tactile senses.
Her outdoor installations, often created using foraged or recycled materials, focus on environmental issues and seek to engage and educate the public about these concerns.
Kathie Vezzani, our host, is a mixed media artist who loves anything rusty. She rusts, paints and uses encaustic and cold wax in her practice. She also creates mixed media sculptures. In her spare time, she organizes workshops for other artists. She will be hosting this workshop in her new studio.
Bridgette with one of her outdoor installations
