Workshop Up Next
Colette Odya Smith
Landscape Through Your Eyes: Pastel Painting from Photo to Finish
Richmond, VA - September 27-29, 2024 (In-Person)
Landscape Through Your Eyes: Pastel Painting from Photo to Finish
Richmond, VA - September 27-29, 2024 (In-Person)
Beginning with landscape as our muse, explore the possibilities for personalizing your imagery and communicating your intent. Beginning with your photos, working through watercolor as an underpainting, to a finished pastel, join us in advancing your specific aims for your art. Whether you want to improve accuracy, painterly mark-making, abstracting, color competency, or another area of interest, we will work on ways to make your painting successful. Our focus will be on working in a supportive environment to develop skills, practice techniques, and attend to your
personal artistic challenges.
A lifelong Wisconsin native, Ms. Smith is a painter of contemporary landscapes that often blur the distinctions between realism and abstraction. Art has always been her love and nature’s mysteries and hidden meanings continue to be her muse. Even puddles and cracked sidewalks caught her eye as a girl growing up in Milwaukee in a large working-class family.
She earned her degree in Fine Art, Humanities, and Education at Macalester College in St. Paul, then taught public school art and raised two children. A pastel class at MIAD, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design set her on her career path for nearly 30 years now. Ms. Smith works from her home and studio in Wauwatosa, WI, not far from where she was raised. While her extensive travels nationally and internationally have expanded her vision and insights, she remains at heart a midwestern girl in love with the richness of the landscape she is grounded in. She has pursued her career with commercial galleries and by actively exhibiting in prestigious juried competitions and invitational curated shows in public art venues.
Her paintings have been featured in several books and art publications and exhibited widely in the United States, France, Germany, and China. They have received over 70 regional, national, and international awards. Ms. Smith has written articles and juried for the Pastel Journal and The Artists Magazine. She has judged the prestigious international exhibitions of the Pastel Society of America and the International Association of Pastel Societies. Additionally, she teaches workshops, offers critiques and demonstrations. She has been honored as a Maître Pastelliste by the Societe des Pastellistes de France, Master Pastelist and Advisory Board Member by the Pastel Society of America, Eminent Pastelist and Masters’ Circle member by the International Association of Pastel Societies, and Distinguished Pastelist by the Pastel Society of New Mexico. Her work hangs in public, corporate and private collections, including the Ming Gallery Museum of Pastel in Suzhou, China.
She offers her work in the spirit of service.
Her website is http://www.coletteodyasmith.com
To view Supply List for workshop click here.
personal artistic challenges.
A lifelong Wisconsin native, Ms. Smith is a painter of contemporary landscapes that often blur the distinctions between realism and abstraction. Art has always been her love and nature’s mysteries and hidden meanings continue to be her muse. Even puddles and cracked sidewalks caught her eye as a girl growing up in Milwaukee in a large working-class family.
She earned her degree in Fine Art, Humanities, and Education at Macalester College in St. Paul, then taught public school art and raised two children. A pastel class at MIAD, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design set her on her career path for nearly 30 years now. Ms. Smith works from her home and studio in Wauwatosa, WI, not far from where she was raised. While her extensive travels nationally and internationally have expanded her vision and insights, she remains at heart a midwestern girl in love with the richness of the landscape she is grounded in. She has pursued her career with commercial galleries and by actively exhibiting in prestigious juried competitions and invitational curated shows in public art venues.
Her paintings have been featured in several books and art publications and exhibited widely in the United States, France, Germany, and China. They have received over 70 regional, national, and international awards. Ms. Smith has written articles and juried for the Pastel Journal and The Artists Magazine. She has judged the prestigious international exhibitions of the Pastel Society of America and the International Association of Pastel Societies. Additionally, she teaches workshops, offers critiques and demonstrations. She has been honored as a Maître Pastelliste by the Societe des Pastellistes de France, Master Pastelist and Advisory Board Member by the Pastel Society of America, Eminent Pastelist and Masters’ Circle member by the International Association of Pastel Societies, and Distinguished Pastelist by the Pastel Society of New Mexico. Her work hangs in public, corporate and private collections, including the Ming Gallery Museum of Pastel in Suzhou, China.
She offers her work in the spirit of service.
Her website is http://www.coletteodyasmith.com
To view Supply List for workshop click here.
Upcoming Workshops
Adrian Giuliani
Observation and Play, Exploring the Artistic Possibilities
Zoom (maximum 10 students)- Richmond, VA (Winter 2025)
Observation and Play, Exploring the Artistic Possibilities
Zoom (maximum 10 students)- Richmond, VA (Winter 2025)
In this workshop, we will be working from life to explore still lifes and florals with a fresh outlook. Using observation, abstraction and a sense of freedom, we will create work with dynamic compositions and unique perspectives.
Starting with the foundational elements of drawing, I will demonstrate how to truly see and translate what is before you. Once we have that strong foundation of drawing, we will work on creating a pastel by focusing on values, shapes and angles, making marks based upon what we see, not what we think we know. Through demos, I will show you how you can put down your marks boldly and fearlessly, with a sense of play, yet through observation.
Embracing a little imperfection, knowing that as long as you are observing and responding, and taking some chances, your work will ring true! I will show you how you may work through a bit of confusion, treasuring it, to lead to creativity. We will see how things such as confusion, uncertainty, even frustration or so-called “failure,” are actually positive tools to open up one’s creativity!
Then we will add some play!! I will demonstrate fun tools that will open up your sense of freedom and allow you to engage your artistic instincts.
We will explore some new possibilities and push some artistic boundaries together! There will be plenty of open discussion and feedback in a supportive environment!
Each day we will have in-depth art reviews, where we will discuss your work, and I will give you encouragement and possible suggestions for making your work even stronger.
Join me for this 2 day fun-filled workshop and immersive experience, which just may expand your thinking about art making!!
Her website is https://adrianfineart.wixsite.com/adriangiuliani
Aline Ordman
Creating Dynamic Pastels
Richmond, VA - May 2025 (In-Person)
Creating Dynamic Pastels
Richmond, VA - May 2025 (In-Person)
Painting is learning to see. Often, we paint what we think we see because we all have preconceived notions of what something looks like. However, to really paint what you see, you must break down everything you are looking at into just abstract shapes. Don’t see a “house”, see a series of interlocking shapes.
Working from their own photo references, students will transform these into pastel paintings using the principles of color, value and design. Along with a painting demonstration, Aline will talk about understanding color in terms of temperature, intensity and value while translating those ideas using pastel technique. She will also emphasize the concept of creating shapes and carving back on them in order to achieve a painterly finish. Her demo will be figures in an environment.
Aline grew up outside New York and received her early education at Cornel University in Ithaca, NY graduating in 1975 with a BFA. She subsequently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually attended The Academy of Art College (now University) in San Francisco receiving an additional BFA in illustration. Upon graduation she taught figure drawing there for about 8 years before moving to New England, specifically the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire.
Aline is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America, an Eminent Pastelist with the International Association of Pastel societies, A Signature Member of The American Impressionist Society and a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America. Her work has appeared in various publications, receiving Awards in the Pastel Journal’s including the Founders Award. In 2017 she received the Prix de Pastel in the International Association of Pastel Society’s National Juried Exhibition.
Aline currently lives in Vermont and teaches workshops throughout the country and Europe. Her studio is in Quechee, Vermont and her work can be seen in Camden Falls Gallery in Camden, Maine and The Blue Heron Gallery in Wellfleet, Massachussetts. Her website is www.alineordman.com
Working from their own photo references, students will transform these into pastel paintings using the principles of color, value and design. Along with a painting demonstration, Aline will talk about understanding color in terms of temperature, intensity and value while translating those ideas using pastel technique. She will also emphasize the concept of creating shapes and carving back on them in order to achieve a painterly finish. Her demo will be figures in an environment.
Aline grew up outside New York and received her early education at Cornel University in Ithaca, NY graduating in 1975 with a BFA. She subsequently moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and eventually attended The Academy of Art College (now University) in San Francisco receiving an additional BFA in illustration. Upon graduation she taught figure drawing there for about 8 years before moving to New England, specifically the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire.
Aline is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America, an Eminent Pastelist with the International Association of Pastel societies, A Signature Member of The American Impressionist Society and a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America. Her work has appeared in various publications, receiving Awards in the Pastel Journal’s including the Founders Award. In 2017 she received the Prix de Pastel in the International Association of Pastel Society’s National Juried Exhibition.
Aline currently lives in Vermont and teaches workshops throughout the country and Europe. Her studio is in Quechee, Vermont and her work can be seen in Camden Falls Gallery in Camden, Maine and The Blue Heron Gallery in Wellfleet, Massachussetts. Her website is www.alineordman.com
Karen Margulis Workshop - Richmond, VA (Fall 2025)
For more information about Karen Margulis, visit her website at https://www.karenmargulis.com/.
Barbara Jaenicke Workshop - Richmond, VA (May 2026)
Barbara loved drawing and painting as a child, but her artistic journey was launched more so from stubborn determination rather than any innate giftedness. Her grandmother was an accomplished oil painter, and although she didn’t directly encourage Barbara to follow in her footsteps, Barbara’s childhood was surrounded by her beautiful paintings.
She studied painting outside of her regular classes during high school and college. However, not realizing that a career in fine art could be a possibility, she steered her initial career choice toward another art-related field, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 from The College of New Jersey, majoring in Art with an emphasis in Advertising Design. Her early career was spent in advertising as an art director, then later in corporate marketing communications. Without much time for painting during these earlier careers, she always knew she would eventually continue her original artistic passion, and in 1999 she gradually but intensely began to do so. Finally, in 2002, she was able to turn her focus to a fine art career, pursuing it full steam ahead.
Working in oil and pastel, Barbara strives to capture light-filled landscapes in a painterly, impressionist style.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Barbara also lived in Atlanta, Georgia for many years until she yearned for snow and mountains for her landscape subject matter, which prompted her family’s move to Bend, Oregon in 2015.
She studied painting outside of her regular classes during high school and college. However, not realizing that a career in fine art could be a possibility, she steered her initial career choice toward another art-related field, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 from The College of New Jersey, majoring in Art with an emphasis in Advertising Design. Her early career was spent in advertising as an art director, then later in corporate marketing communications. Without much time for painting during these earlier careers, she always knew she would eventually continue her original artistic passion, and in 1999 she gradually but intensely began to do so. Finally, in 2002, she was able to turn her focus to a fine art career, pursuing it full steam ahead.
Working in oil and pastel, Barbara strives to capture light-filled landscapes in a painterly, impressionist style.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Barbara also lived in Atlanta, Georgia for many years until she yearned for snow and mountains for her landscape subject matter, which prompted her family’s move to Bend, Oregon in 2015.