Workshop Information

Dates: Saturdays, from October 30 – November 20

Time: 12 PM – 2 PM

Location: Five Points Arts Center Drawing Lab

Ages: 16+

Cost: $125

Class Cap: 12

Event Link 

https://fivepointsarts.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/fivepointsarts/event.jsp?event=27&

Workshop Description

Focus on an experimental approach to materials and mark making in this hands-on workshop. We will expand our understanding of drawing beyond direct observation and increase our awareness of ideas regarding drawing tools, surfaces, and compositions. We’ll make our own tools, and explore mark making methods to include elements of chance, exaggeration, collaboration, and abstraction, to name a few. The format of this workshop consists of a wide variety of mark making and creativity exercises to stimulate the imagination. Be prepared to head back into your studio with a fresh new approach as you discover new ways of thinking about drawing!

This workshop is open to students of all levels and is designed for those who are open to experimentation and want to discover connections between mark making, medium, imagination, and intuition.

Required Materials

• Drawing Paper Pad (14” x 17” or larger)
• Bristol Board Pad (14” x 17” or larger)
• A plastic cup or bowl for water
• Black ink
• Inexpensive brushes, variety of sizes
• Tooth picks
• Small piece of cardboard
• Duct tape 
• A few sticks 
• String
• Spool of thread
• Variety of drawing (vine charcoal, sharpies, graphite, chalk, pastels, etc.)
• Scissors and/or a blade for cutting paper (x-acto, utility blade, etc.)

Instructor Bio

Melanie Carr is a Connecticut based artist who received her MFA from the College of Art and Design at Lesley University in 2011. Carr began her studies in visual art after serving in the United States Navy as an Operations Specialist onboard the USS Willamette (AO-180) in Pearl Harbor, HI. Carr spent over10 years at the New Britain Museum of American Art, her most recent role as Curator of New Media. She is now Adjunct Professor at Central Connecticut State University and  UConn Stamford where she teaches drawing. Other teaching venues include Spectrum Art Gallery, Centerbrook, Pathways Senderos, New Britain, CT, Green Street Arts Center, Middletown, CT, and the New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT. Carr’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Soapbox Gallery, NY, Stockman Gallery, New Britain, CT, City Arts on Pearl, Hartford, CT, Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT, and Pegasus Gallery, Middletown, CT. In addition, Carr’s work was included in numerous exhibits that include The Point, United Kingdom, Gibney Dance, NYC, Gallery Aferro, New Jersey, The Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, Mattatuck Museum, CT, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, CT, and Herter Gallery, MA.

Carr has work in the collections at the New Britain Museum of American Art, The Loomis Chaffee School, and the Boston Public Library, as well as many private collections.