EXPRESS YOURSELF: Art Course Bundle Watch Preview

EXPRESS YOURSELF BUNDLE: Let Go + Let It Flow, The Gesture of Flowers, Harnessing New Moon Magic: Dreaming, Intention Setting and Manifesting Through Soul-Fueled Art

We all need a spark sometimes. To push our boundaries. To gain new perspectives and ways of doing things that inspire us. Haven't you been quiet long enough? It's time to raise your creative voice.

"Your classes and paint parties kept me going." - Nancy Curry

HERE ARE 3 CLASSES TO IGNITE YOUR ART PRACTICE, step into who you are meant to be, and fill your soul.

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LET GO + LET IT FLOW 

with BONUS Sketchbook Freedom Warm Up Session

Total: 100 minutes

This is what you are meant to do: tune into your intuition, creativity and express yourself as only you can. In this self-paced class I will guide you and share my process of painting a large acrylic abstract , start to finish. Exploring brushstrokes, techniques, marks, layering color, using different brushes, tools and materials to build interest in our work. We'll move through exercises that encourage you to listen to your intuition and build trust in your process.

Note: this course is broken into manageable lessons, to give work drying time between layers and to encourage us to breathe, listen and allow the painting to tell us where it needs to go.

This course is IS FOR YOU if:

* you are ready to explore your own creative voice and expression and want to be encouraged in that exploration

* want to explore expressing yourself abstractly

* want to be gently guided to tune into your intuition

* want to find more trust in your process

* want to work on letting go so that your painting flows more naturally, while reducing negative self-talk that inhibits your process

* you feel tight in your process and want to loosen up your overall painting, brushstrokes and mark making

* are interested in exploring creating a larger abstract painting on canvas

* you have interest in working in layers and mark making


This class is for any level and is led by artist Pamela Bates, in an easy-going, approachable teaching style.

I want to encourage you, no matter where you are in your art journey, to step out of the box and trust your intuition so you can get in tune with your own artistic voice. I share my process, showing you how I approach a larger gestural painting, start to finish. While I show you everything I do to create a piece, my classes are never a 'step-by-step, painting this exactly as I do' journey. It is me sharing my intuitive painting process with you to support you in exploring your own voice as an artist. It is full of helpful tips that you can incorporate into your own process and plenty of encouragement for you to push through any boundaries that may have been created by years of societal pressure, outer and inward expectations, years of having our voices quieted and even silenced.

I believe in what you have to say as an artist, and want you to believe in it too.

BONUS LESSON: Sketchbook Freedom

This lesson at the beginning of this class can stand on its own in your practice or serve as a warm up exercise and a means of exploring the energy of gestural painting.

MATERIALS LIST (suggested): LET GO + LET IT FLOW

Suggested means just that. I want you to really tune into what is calling you in terms of supplies, colors and tools. In this course we work in acrylics in a sketchbook or paper, and on a larger canvas, beginning with pencil and making use of other other supplies and mediums along the way (i.e. a sketchbook, spray bottle, etc) to build interest in our work and explore ways to express ourselves as artists. See below for complete list.*

Sketchbook or basic paper
For bonus Sketchbook Freedom module. I will be using a very inexpesive sketchbook about 8 x 10in in size, from Michael’s. Artist Loft line. I find the more basic it is, the more freedom I have express myself, without fear of wasting materials we deem 'too precious'. Don't fall into that trap.

Canvas
I am working on a stretched gallery wrapped canvas 30 x 42. I suggest that you use at least a 24 x 24 because painting larger changes your approach to the work, and the energy of the piece that comes from larger physical movements in relation to the size to the size of the canvas, as well as your brushstrokes and application. Keep in mind, as your substrate gets bigger, gestures have the room to get bigger and looser. I often work with pre-primed or unprimed canvas. I don't generally gesso. This is a personal decision. I like the texture of the canvas and the way the paints and mediums work with that substrate. If you like to gesso, have at it. Do what feels right to you.

Paint
I am working with acrylics. I use a variety of brands. Golden (heavy body), Liquitex (heavy body), NovaColor (a more medium body paint) and whatever else is in my paint bin.
As this is an intuitive painting class, choose the palette that calls to you. However, I would suggest having some basic colors on hand that will help you establish contrast and varying hues when used with other colors, i.e. titanium white, unbleached titanium, paynes gray, mars black, etc. In the studio on any given day, I use a wide variety of paints, including house paints. I think it is important for each artist to try different brands and consistencies (heavy body vs medium body vs fluid) and see what works for them. (yes, house paints….if they are good enough for Picasso and Pollock……..remember, no rules).

Other supplies
-I always start with No. 2 pencil
-Oil pastel (final layer when working with acrylics), soft pastels, oil sticks (final layer when working with acrylics), markers, colored pencils, gelatos- whatever YOU like to use to making marks. -Brushes in varying shapes and sizes. -Towel or rag for wiping color off brush before rinsing in water.
-Water for rinsing brushes between colors, and I always have more than one.
-Fixative if you want to set your top layer of oil pastels and/or soft pastels (apply in well ventilated area- I apply outside)
-Paper towels
-Baby wipes (awesome blending tool)
-Hair dryer or heat gun to dry layers


Details:
In this class I will be painting upright on an easel. If you don’t have an easel, you can prop your canvas up against a wall or hang, set on a straight back dining chair (covered if you don’t want it ruined, or on a wall and secure it. Put some plastic on wall first if it is a wall you use for more than making art.

You ‘can’ paint flat, but again, this will impact the way the paint moves on the canvas. Sometimes I work with canvas on the floor or a low table, which is very different from upright. Less drips. It’s a different approach. Equally valid, but it will change how paint moves on the canvas and your gestures.

I work with several layers of protection under my easel ( cardboard, then plastic – a garbage bag cut open works, topped with a painters tarp) to prevent water and paint from going all over the floor. You can also use an old blanket, beach towel, shower curtain or sheet folded for extra protection or an old area rug you don’t use anymore.

Making art makes a beautiful mess.

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THE GESTURE OF FLOWERS
Total: 105 minutes

"I go back to this course again and again.” -Lisa

Love flowers? Want to translate the energy of flowers and the emotions they evoke through painting?  In this RECORDING OF A Live class I taught on Zoom, we will paint a gestural abstract floral bouquet. We will explore brushstrokes, techniques, marks, layering color and using different brushes, tools and materials to build interest in our work. We will paint with brushes and also monoprinting (all you need is an extra piece of paper or cardboard- it's easy and fun!). This class will be guided in a way that encourages you to listen to your intuition, painting layers, mark making, incorporating a variety of mediums to create a gestural abstract flower painting. We will be painting mainly with acrylics, but will also make use of other mediums such as pencil, colored pencils, oil pastels, soft pastels, etc. This class is all about expressing yourself in a in a loose gestural manner to capture the essence of flowers.

While the camera will be on my work and me, it also may focus briefly on participants who took the course Live which gives it a wonderful sense of community. My mission is to guide you in listening to your intuition, following where it leads, stepping out of the box and trying new things and getting in tune with your own artistic voice. I want you to think of, and express, flowers in new unexpected ways.

This course is IS FOR YOU if:

* you love flowers and want to paint them abstracted and loose

*you want to express yourself through painting

*you feel tight in your process and want to loosen up

*you want to explore expressing yourself abstractly

*you have interest in making marks

*are ready to explore your own voice and expression

*want to find more trust in your process

*are comfortable with being guided in this process

*are ready to try new things

* are open to learning via a recording of a live class

This class is for all levels and is led by Pamela Bates.


MATERIALS LIST (suggested): THE GESTURE OF FLOWERS

Paper
I will be working on Strathmore, 18 x 24in watercolor paper (gives me the option of incorporating watercolors as I work). Mixed media works too. Size is entirely up to you, keep in mind as you go larger it can translate in a looser approach simply by changes in gesture due to increased area and inherent physciality.

Paint
I am working with acrylics and mixed media. I use a variety of brands. Golden (heavy body), Liquitex (heavy body), NovaColor (a more medium body paint) and whatever else is in my paint bin. As always, I paint inuitively and choose the palette that is speaking to me in the moment and suggest you do the same.

In the studio on any given day, I use a wide variety of paints, including house paints. I think it is important for each artist to try different brands and consistencies (heavy body vs medium body vs fluid) and see what works for them.

Other supplies
-I almost always start with No. 2 pencil
-Oil pastel (final layer when working with acrylics), soft pastels, oil sticks (final layer when working with acrylics), markers, colored pencils, gelatos- whatever YOU like to use to making marks.
-Brushes in varying shapes and sizes.
-Towel or rag for wiping color off brush before rinsing in water.
-A piece of paper or carboard for monoprinting. -Water for rinsing brushes between colors, and I always have more than one.
-Fixative if you want to set your top layer of oil pastels and/or soft pastels (apply in well ventilated area- I apply outside)
-Paper towels
-Baby wipes (awesome blending tool)
-Hair dryer or heat gun to dry layers

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HARNESSING NEW MOON MAGIC: Dreaming, Intention Setting & Manifesting Through Soul-Fueled Art

Total: 1 hour 5 min

"This class helped me express what I wanted to manifest and connect with the Universe and my creativity in new ways. It proved to be not only fun, but magical." - S.T.

As an artist, you can connect with the Universe in extraordinary ways. Call in the sacred and paint your own magic. This class was recorded Live on Zoom, and is half creative ritual and half expressive painting. Think of it as your chance to create space for yourself to dream and to connect with your inner most desires. Your moment to have a conversation, through your art, with the Universe and welcome the power of manifesting into your life. To set your intentions for what you dream of manifesting. Not simply by thinking them or speaking them out loud, but by exploring them through intuitive abstract painting. I will be guiding you in creating, but this process is about you.

Note: Expect some time to be spent raising our vibration so our message to the Universe is heard loud and clear.

That includes:

+ gratitude

+ a group Tarot card pull to guide the session and our intention setting

+ writing our feelings and desires. What we want and need in the present moon cycle. This recorded class took place during the New Moon Cycle, and the most powerful time to set intentions. But it is never a bad time to connect with the power of the moon in helping to manifest faster

+ creating a personal manifestation mantra

+ we will PAINT OUR DREAMS AND INENTIONS intuitively and abstractly, expressing it all in beautiful color and marks, following where the Universe and our gut leads us. It will be an offering and signal to the Universe of what we are manifesting and ready to receive.

This course is IS FOR YOU if:

* if you are interested in learning about creative manifestation

* are open to creating a soul-fueled ritual for your own self-exploration

* want to paint abstract

* want to explore the link between your creativity, the universe and manifestation

* strengthen your creative intuition

* you are ready to have fun painting in a way you haven’t before

MATERIALS LIST (suggested): HARNESSING NEW MOON: Dreaming, Intention Setting & Manifesting Through Soul-Fueled Art

Suggested means just that. I want you to really tune into what is calling you in terms of supplies, colors and tools. In this course we work in watercolors and on paper, but it is effective with any supplies and substrate.

PAINT
Both watercolors and acrylics are used in this course. If you paint with oils, you could certainly use them as well. This class is about creating a ritual for yourself that helps you creatively manifest, so specific supplies aren’t of utmost important.

PAPER
I will be painting on 18 x 24in Strathmore watercolor paper. You can use that size, go bigger or small and you can use whatever paper you like. I would simple suggest decent art paper. I love Strathmore (watercolor, mixed media, bristol, etc) because it takes everything I throw at it.

Other supplies
-I almost always start with No. 2 pencil -Pencils, pens, watercolors, acrylics, markers, pastels, oils pastels, oil sticks, markers, crayons, colored pencils, gelatos. There are no wrong answers to the supplies you want to incorporate.
-Brushes in varying shapes and sizes.
-Towel or rag for wiping color off brush before rinsing in water.
-A piece of paper or carboard for monoprinting, should you choose to incorporate that -Water for rinsing brushes between colors, and I always have more than one.
-Fixative if you want to set your top layer of oil pastels and/or soft pastels (apply in well ventilated area- I apply outside)
-Paper towels
-Baby wipes (awesome blending tool)
-Hair dryer or heat gun to dry layers

I will be working on 18 x 24in watercolor paper, but you can work on paper or canvas in any size. Even a sketchbook will do.

This class is a beautiful, powerful way to manifest. I have felt the power of this ritual in my own life. The vibe is high. If you lean into it, you WILL reap what you sow.

I believe in you and your dreams.

BONUS PDF GUIDE:
HARNESSING MOON MAGIC: Dreaming, Intention Setting + Manifesting Through Soul-Fueled Art

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Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone, learn to trust yourself, find your voice and grow your practice?

I’m SO glad you are here.