"Finding Your Muse: Explorations in Representational & Abstract Painting" w/Madeline Dukes & Sheryl Stalnaker

Workshop Description

Madeline Dukes & Sheryl Stalnaker team up to about teach about pulling reference materials together, the best ways to work from photos, doing thumbnail studie s, how to get inspiration, etc. Sheryl will teach the representational piece and then Madeline will teach about taking the same reference materials and creating an abstracted painting. Look forward to two days of creative exploration with two of Charleston ’s award winning artists and popular teachers!

About the Instructors

Madeline Dukes : A South Carolina native and Charleston area resident, Madeline Dukes studied studio art and political

science at Winthrop University. Dukes’ work has been selected for several juried group and solo shows at museums and cultural centers in North and South Carolina, including the Etherredge Center gallery at University of South Carolina - Aiken, Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Juried Art Exhibition, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, the Spartanburg Museum of Art, Lincol n County Museum, Sumter Museum of Art, McElvey Center, Mooresville Art Center, Pickens County Museum, the Rauch Gallery at Gaston College, and a traveling show with the South Carolina State Museum. Her work has also been featured in Fine Art Connoisseur and can be found in private and corporate collections throughout the U.S. including the new ACE Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Landscapes, “nature portraits,” and the figure are the subjects of her paintings. Although Dukes completes most work within her studio, she does employ an interactive process of observation in nature to capture color, form, and, most importantly, light. For her, this is where the painting begins – outside or from the live model. A connection with the subject must happen. Once thi s connection is made, she sketches, paints, photographs, and makes notes of her experiences. While some work is

completed on location, she usually brings these observations into the “indoor” studio.

Sheryl Stalnaker: "My landscape paintings are inspired by the unspoiled places, which can be hard to find. I am mesmerized by interesting cloud formations, the light hitting a wave, or colors reflecting. I immerse myself in the landscape, gathering artistic inspiration whil e boating to remote areas, kayaking, surfing, or hiking in the mountains. I strive to pull the viewer into participation with the scene, such as feeling the tranquility of a still morning or the rolling of waves in the sea. My still life and other low cou ntry scenes incorporate texture and light to make the paintings have energy and visual interest."

Capturing the feeling and energy of a scene in her paintings, Sheryl often starts a painting on location and studies her subject from life, rather than wo rking only from photographs, which gives her the feeling she wants to convey in her work. She builds up layers of paint using a brush and palette knife, both adding paint and scraping away. This adds depth and an interesting textural element to her work. From a distance, the viewer is pulled into the painting, but when viewed closer, Sheryl’s work is impressionistic and even abstracted in places. Her work conveys a mood and not just a representation of the scene. She has taught private and small group painting classes and workshops for years and enjoys sharing her passion for art both through her own painting and through inspiring others.

W orkshop Supply List

Reference Photos:

Please bring at least three of your own images. These can be printed photos or you may work from a tablet or small laptop. Images on a phone are very small so it is better to work from a larger reference photo. Another option it to have a printed photo and use a camera phone photo for color references. Please do not use images of other artists’ paintings or use others’ photos unless you are given permission.

Painting Supplies:

This is an all media workshop, so please bring supplies for your chosen medium. If you are new to painting and need a suggested supply list for a specific medium, please contact Sheryl or Madeline. The instructors will be working with oils but can assist with other media as well.

For the Representational section of the workshop:

1. 2 - prepared canvases, boards or papers. If you are bringing canvases, they should be no smaller than 8” x 10”. 11” x 14” or larger is recommended.

2. Sketchpad and pencil for small studies and notes

3. Painting cover up or apron

4. Your tools of the trade for your chosen medium

If you are using oils: paints, brushes, odorless paint thinner in sealed container, paper towels, palette knife, palette and table top easel.

Additional supplies needed for Abstract section of workshop :

1. 2 – 20” x 20” surface prepared canvases, boards, or papers

2. 8 - Large sized pieces of newsprint paper

3. Chunk of soft charcoal or chunky soft charcoal crayon

4. 1 – 11” x 14” piece of open mat board.

5. Vinyl or latex gloves

6. Tape

7. Used gift cards or palette knives

8. 1 – 2” and 1 – 1” chip bristle brushes

11. Any special mediums or tools that you’d like to include in your art making that are formulated to combine specifically with your main medium of choice. For example, oil painters might want to use oil sticks, cold wax, oil based markers, etc., while acrylic painters might choose pastes, pumices, or gels.

Registration

Registration is now open to CCAL members only for $115 ($50 minimum deposit required).

Registration is open to all artists beginning October 1. Non-members pay $145 ($50 minimum deposit required).