POSTPONED – Make Your Own Water-Based Paints!

Description: Leighton Art Centre and the Diamond Valley Sustainable Living Centre invite you to join us in celebrating Earth Day 2024. This collaborative effort epitomizes the mutual values championed by our organizations, as we strive to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for our planet. Join us on April 20^th, 2024 to delve into the combination of art, science, and nature through our interactive workshops.

All levels of artists are welcome to spend the afternoon with Susan learning how to sustainably make your very own paint. Making paints is a lot of fun and much cheaper than buying premade ones from the store. For thousands of years, artists have been making paints. This art form has been largely lost due to modern production and convenience.

In this jam-packed workshop, you will learn how to…

– Create watercolour, gouache, egg-tempera, milk, casein, acrylic, and glue paints

– Make vine charcoal and an adhesive

– Use commercially dry and locally prepared natural, sustainable pigments.

– Use different binders

– Alter colours using pigments

– Do a light-fast test on the paints and take control of the materials that you use by preparing them yourself

– Contrast and compare the characteristics of these different types of paint and learn how you can use them in mixed media or aesthetic advantage

Recipes, handouts, and a chart comparing the characteristics and uses of these types of paint will be given out during class to help ensure you can take your knowledge home to help you along your painting journey!

We ask that all participants wear a medical-grade mask for this event. The instructor, Susan will be undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the time of this event and will be immunocompromised. Thank you for your understanding. LAC will have masks available onsite.

*Please note that the fee for this workshop includes admittance to our historic museum, walking paths and art gallery on the property, which can be enjoyed at your own discretion after the workshop is completed. Leighton Centre is a proud non-profit organization that relies on donations to help meet demanding operational costs. We appreciate your contribution by attending our workshops and other events that allow us to continue thriving!

Audience: 14+

Supplies to bring:

– Wear clothes you don’t mind to get dirty and/ or apron

– Various types of small brushes that you already have (soft round hair, stiff bristle, hake, blender, foam, etc.)

– Small pieces of different types of paper that you would like to experiment with when making samples (e.g. watercolour, drawing, archival matte board, a primed board, canvas paper, etc.)

– Several very small containers – lids (e.g. from a dollar-type store) to hold small bits of binders & paint

– A small working rag or towel

– Flat or off-set artwork metal paint spatulas

– Note-taking supplies

– A tiny funnel (if you have one)

– Small fine sieve, a bit of cheesecloth (if you have them)

– A ceramic tile or small stone slab – for grinding pigment (if you already have one)

– A little bit of dry powdered pigments, coloured chalks, or dry pastels (if you have them)

Registration cost:

$ 87.50 – (does not include GST & Eventbrite fees)

Did you know that Members of the Leighton Art Centre get 10% off the registration cost of all workshops and kids’ summer camps? Please visit https://leightoncentre.org/join-us/become-a-member/.

Artist/ Instructor Biography: Susan Kristoferson, MFA, BFA, hand paints and dyes papers to create an extensive palette of paper for her unique collages and fine craft objects and other creative uses. Always a maker herself, as early as the ages of 4 or 5 Susan was creating colored patterns. She had an early interest and skill in sewing and textiles that eventually grew through formal fine arts to include fibre and paper arts.

Susan has been an art teacher, art professor, and head of the fibre arts program. She now works with specialty papers to create visually textured and patterned papers that often look like fabric. Her work and been exhibited in more than 200 exhibits including the Pattern & Flow decorative paper collection at the Watson Library at the Metropolitan Art Museum, and is in collections across the USA, Japan, China, and Canada. She specializes in creating paper collages and fine-craft paper art.

She has lived in England, Denmark, and across the USA and now happily lives in rural southern Alberta with her husband and creamed-coloured Labrador Luna. In her hilltop home and studio that has an inspirational view of the foothills and Rockies.

Cancellation and Refund Policy: Please note there is a NO REFUND policy on all Leighton Art Centre workshops. A refund will only be issued to participants if the workshop is cancelled by the workshop coordinator due to insufficient enrollment, extreme weather conditions, or COVID-19 restrictions. Workshops may be cancelled prior to the start date and participants will be notified via email and/or phone, and a full refund will be processed.

Withdrawal from workshops for medical reasons must be accompanied by a doctor’s medical note or a positive COVID-19 rapid test and must be received by the Leighton workshop coordinator prior to the workshop start date to be qualified for a full refund.