8/9-8/12
Narrative Abstraction:
R&F Pigment Sticks, Oil and Cold wax
with Lisa Pressman

All art is narrative. Whether it is a rejection of contemporary culture or processing a personal life happening, we respond to these events, and they appear in our artwork – consciously or unconsciously. In this workshop, life is our subject, and abstraction is our expression.

This 4-day workshop will provide a series of experiments to manifest the realization of personal imagery. Exercises will include drawing and mark-making sketches, using a viewfinder and an iPhone to discover compositional ideas. We will explore finding personal color, layering concepts, and personal writing assignments. Questions to discuss include: “How do you start a painting?” – “What do you do when you are stuck?” – and “How do you know when a painting is finished?”

The material focus in this workshop is R&F Pigment Sticks, Oil Paint, Cold Wax, Drawing Materials, and more. Each day, Lisa will demonstrate techniques, including layering, excavating, monoprinting, glazing, color mixing, texture, mark-making, and editing. Students will receive individualized attention on their art process to expand their artistic practice. The class will focus on content, how to see, and how to move work forward. Some may find keeping a written journal helpful during this workshop. The journals will not be shared, but you may find your words as touchstones to generating imagery. We will have conversations and presentations around contemporary art during a formal presentation and during our class time.

Please see the required Student Materials list here.

Artist Biography:

Lisa Pressman is an American abstract painter whose work encompasses the transcendent conditions of passion and spontaneity. Her tactile surfaces speak of emotion in physical form and insist in a sense of imperfection and unquenchable humanness. Known as a master colorist, her paintings reveal a depth of intuition and mystery that suggest an existential consciousness.

A native of New Jersey, Lisa received her BA from Douglass College Rutgers University and MFA from Bard College in painting. She has been exhibiting in solo and group exhibitions since 1981 and her work is in numerous private and public collections. She is represented by Susan Eley Fine Arts in New York, Addington Gallery in Chicago, and Slate Gray Gallery in Telluride, CO

Lisa is a highly respected instructor who maintains a vigorous teaching schedule throughout the U.S. and internationally. She offers mentoring, portfolio review, and private workshops with her teaching focused on cultivating the visual voice of each student.