Workshops
There are no available registration dates at this time.
“Manifesting Summer’s Energy” encourages participants to develop images that are more than literal representation. According to the traditional Chinese calendar, we will be working smack in the middle of a Maine Summer, with the Solstice just behind us, and July 4th a few days away. Firecracker Energy in the Year of the Tiger!
This workshop is designed to build on the experience gained during the online class, “Signs of Spring Along the Path of Abstraction,” offered in February-March 2022. Previous participation in the online class is recommended but not required.
A series of guided exercises, project prompts, and a field trip will help jumpstart and inspire us to move from “reality” or seeing the world as it appears, to generating abstract images that impact the viewer.
All levels are welcome. Instruction is individualized to meet you where you are.
Please bring 10-20 images of previous work to discuss.
Participants may also wish to bring a sketchbook, any special papers, and their favorite drawing and painting media. All other materials will be provided. Assistance with an etching press will be available for anyone wishing to make monoprints.
Participants will review and discuss their previous work with the intention of growing both concepts and skill levels to generate a portfolio presentation or an artist’s book. Throughout the week there will be plenty of time for individual discussions with me, to help you through the stuck spots and to firm up goals.
The day will include an Introduction to Abstraction (visual presentation), a demo of abstract drawing or painting, and an overview of materials and projects prompts. I’ll also show some of my own work inspired by Maine’s landscape. The project prompts will offer a variety of methods and perspectives for exploring Summer along the Maine coast.
Demo and Project Prompt: Monotypes are an exciting way to explore the colors and structures of the Maine landscape. Group and individual discussion of work in progress. Afternoon field trip to CMCA and/or The Farnsworth to look at contemporary abstraction.
Demo and Project Prompt: Summer’s presiding sense is Speech, so we’ll consider ways to add text to images. Group and individual discussion of ongoing work.
Demo and Project Prompt: Putting concepts to work, we’ll manifest abstractions in cut paper collage, using found materials or work already created in this class. Group and individual discussion of ongoing work.
We’ll devote time on the final day to making, finishing up, and reviewing the week’s work. Participants will take home a simple physical portfolio (optional digital presentation) or book of images that celebrates the principles of abstraction and the natural world of a Maine Summer. COVID rules permitting, a final presentation on Friday evening is a chance to share portfolios with MMW participants and staff.
Share This
Instructor: Dudley Zopp
Dudley Zopp is a visual artist, writer, and linguist, whose paintings and artist’s books honor the sensory experiences of the natural world. The seasonal activities of keeping multiple journals as she restores habitat on her property in Lincolnville, Maine, feed directly into her paintings of geological and biological phenomena. Her artist’s books examine our responsibilities to the earth. Before moving to Maine, Dudley taught drawing at the University of Louisville and Indiana University Southeast; in Maine she has taught at Waterfall Arts (Belfast) and 26 Split Rock Cove (Thomaston). As an instructor and as private mentor, she is focused on helping students find the hidden potential in their work through an intersection with the richness of the natural world. Dudley’s paintings are included in the collections of 21C Museum Hotels, the Portland Museum of Art, and the Bates College Museum of Art, as well as other university and museum collections nationally. Her books are held in the Special Collections libraries of Bowdoin College, the University of Kentucky, and Yale University. A solo exhibition, Landscapes, Jars and Vessels, at Moremen Gallery (Louisville, Kentucky, 2019) occasioned a conversation about the cities, continents, places, and objects that inform her paintings. In December 2019, she published The Mystery of Five, a limited edition artist’s book. During the 2020 pandemic she has been engaged with the multi-generational group Spliced Connector, and uses Instagram and Artsy as platforms to reach a broader audience. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Dudley graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. and M.A. in Modern Foreign Languages, and went on to continue post-graduate studies in Drawing and Painting at the Hite Art Institute, University of Louisville.
