Mark-Making and Memory with Serena Barton
Sept 15-25, 2017 Tuscany, Italy
Join us as we welcome artist and author, Serena Barton, to La Montalla for what will be a fabulous workshop full of exploration and creativity, working with her cold wax process.
Serena has this to say about her workshop:
“Join me in magical Contignano, Tuscany for an exciting workshop in my favorite medium ever! You’ll have an amazing trip, creating unique art works and touring Tuscany’s gorgeous hill towns. You’ll use your favorite shapes, colors, and marks to create stunning and atmospheric pieces that express your deepest self. You will explore using designs and doodles that have been part of you for many years and mix colors that evoke the places you have felt most at home.
You’ll learn more about your creative process and you’ll leave the workshop as a confident oil and cold wax
painter. You’ll also leave with a lot of amazing and beautiful pieces!
Creating abstract art with oil paint and cold wax medium involves taking a journey into yourself and your world -without a map. The process is intuitive, bold and full of discovery. Your pieces will take on lives of their own through the many layers of oil and cold wax you apply, addition of mixed media elements, and the areas you choose to scrape away.
There are many opportunities for happy accidents and unexpected joys. Each oil and cold wax piece is a result of a moment in time and space where elements converge in a one-time- only way.
I’ll show you lots of techniques for adding layers, textures, graphic touches and atmosphere to your work. I let you in on the qualities unique to oil and cold wax. I encourage you to mix and match techniques in your own way and to develop your own style.
You’ll learn several ways to prepare your wood supports and we’ll also play with Arches oil paper, which needs no preparation before you dive in with paint and wax. You’ll learn how to use ordinary household tools to incise and make marks, how to scrape back for a dramatic look, and how to unify your compositions. You’ll learn how adding personal marks with oil bars and oil pastels enhances your pieces.
We’ll also cover adding collage, sand, plaster, marble dust, and collage elements to your pieces. You’ll learn how to use solvents to add unusual and unexpected effects. We’ll explore the creative process and ways to get your creativity flowing. You’ll be able to take inspiration photos on our visits to nearby towns and translate them into abstract works that evoke all that you experience on this Italian adventure.
The watchword for this workshop is, “Experiment!” You’ll build up many layers, incise, scribble, scrape back, and 
texture your work, allowing each piece to tell its own story.”
What’s included in your holiday:
- 10 nights accommodations in a lovingly remodeled French farmhouse and gites
- 36 meals: 10 continental breakfasts, 8 lunches, 8 dinners
- Wine with meals
- Aperitif
- All ground transportation to/from Toulouse Blagnac Airport on scheduled arrival/departure days and day trips
- Entrance fees to scheduled sites, where applicable
- Serena’s instruction fees
What’s not included:
- Your airfare and travel insurance
- Your spending money for treasures you will want to bring home
- Alcohol and foods you may want to put in your fridge
- Gratuity for our hostess (info will be sent later)
- Additional days you may choose to spend in France before /after the workshop and resulting transport needs
Click here to register.