Making art is a lifelong journey, and along that journey comes continual growth and learning. These experiences keep the creative process fresh, motivating, and exciting.

Changing It Up encourages artists to play, explore, and stretch the boundaries of the elements and principles of art and composition. As you experiment, remember that you never lose what you already know—you simply add new tools, techniques, and possibilities to your creative process.

This hands-on workshop is designed to open your mind to new ways of thinking and creating. Participants will discover unconventional approaches to artmaking and learn how to transform them into unique, original works of art. By the end of the session, you'll leave with a variety of fresh ideas and practical techniques to inspire your future work.

Artist Bio: Art Sherwyn is an artist and educator in constant exploration. For over 40 years, Art has been devoted to unlocking creative potential through the appreciation and practice of visual art. Whether painting outdoors in the heart of American landscapes or working in his studio, he pushes the boundaries of playful form and expression. His workspace is a world of creative energy.  His innovative techniques deepen the understanding of composition and color, guiding individuals from all backgrounds to embark on their own artistic journey—challenging perception and inspiring a renewed passion for the world around them. For more details, refer to Art’s website.

A preparation document with a supply list and workshop details will be sent a few days before the workshop. Please bring economical paper and the paint of your choice. Space is limited, so register early to reserve your spot!

Fee: $130 for members, $150 for non-members

Learn the basics of soldering including torch skills, tools, and safety. Tools will be provided, and project materials are included in the workshop fee. Each participant will solder and finish several rings to bring home. This is a beginner's workshop, no prior experience is needed.

An optional tool kit is available for purchase HERE and will be delivered at the workshop. 

Please contact me at beryljewelrydesign@gmail.com if you have any questions or to be put on a waitlist if your desired time/date is sold out. Also, please add my email to your contacts as I will be sending out an information packet a few weeks before the workshop 

Instructor: Cindy Sassaman is a local jewelry designer and has been teaching workshops in SLO and Los Osos for the last 10 years. 

Requirements:
No prior experience needed
Enrollment is limited and all participants must be at least 18 to participate unless prior approval is given

Fee: $125 - for CCA members $110

This is an intermediate workshop to further advance basic skills learned during Metalsmithing 1. In this workshop students will learn to fabricate a ring or pendant with multiple solder joints and a prefabricated bezel cup, texturize the metal and then set the stone.  Previous enrollment in my Metalsmithing 1 workshop and a tool kit are prerequisites for this workshop.

Please contact Cindy at beryljewelrydesign@gmail.com if you have any questions

Fee: $115 - for CCA members $100

$25 material fee required (includes all materials to make either a talisman ring or pendant). Pay material fee here.

Learn the process of fusing glass onto metal using standard and Basse Taille enameling techniques. We’ll cover metal preparation, enamel properties, application, control, and troubleshooting. Explore both torch and kiln firing and work with opaque and translucent enamels.

This is a beginner’s workshop, no experience needed.

A project-oriented workshop, you’ll have the option of creating an enameled pendant or pair of earrings. All materials are included in the workshop fee.

Instructor: Cindy Sassaman is a local jewelry designer and has been teaching workshops in SLO and Los Osos for the last 10 years. 

Fee: $110 - for CCA members $95

Basse Taille is the technique of enameling transparent colors over a textured background.

“Every painting is a portrait of perception before it is an image of the world.”

The Poster is a three-day plein air workshop introducing Poster Vision—the perceptual capacity to see the landscape relationally rather than descriptively. Instead of composing object by object, participants learn to perceive the landscape as a relational whole, where color, value, and light are understood within the larger field of vision.

Through lecture, demonstration, guided practice, individual instruction, and group critique, participants progress from Basic Poster toward Pure Poster, developing greater clarity, unity, and authority in their painting. The emphasis is not upon style or technique alone, but upon the perceptual foundation from which meaningful pictorial decisions emerge.

The Poster establishes the perceptual threshold from which increasingly nuanced investigations of landscape painting become possible.

Each participant receives Ryan Wurmser's manuscript, The Poster: The Color Key of the Light Field, as both a guide to the workshop and a reference for continued study.

RYAN WURMSER

Ryan Wurmser is a California painter, educator, and founder of the Wurmser Cosmology, an evolving body of work investigating perception, pictorial structure, and the philosophical foundations of painting. Over the past three decades, Wurmser has pursued representational painting while developing an independent framework centered upon perception as the foundation of pictorial expression. His education includes ArtCenter College of Design, California Art Institute, Andreeva Academy with Yuqi Wang, Studio Escalier, as well as study under Ted Seth Jacobs at L’École Albert Defois in France.

Fee: $650 members, $675 non-members

Does your heart sing when you see a light-drenched still life painting? 

Do you hit roadblocks when you paint, or are you overwhelmed by all the considerations in creating a well-designed and executed painting?  Do you get stuck, not knowing what to do next? 

Are you a painter who has some familiarity with basic painting concepts and skills, such as understanding values, mixing color, and paint application? 

Come join Debbie Mueller for a 3 day still life workshop where she will break down the creation of a painting into simple steps that allow the painter to focus their decision making and efforts on one thing at a time leading to two successful pieces of art during the weekend.

The techniques taught during the workshop will be practiced using still life, but are completely appropriate and useful for any subject- landscape, portrait, interiors, etc. This is primarily an oil painting workshop. Acrylics or Gouache may be used as well, though certain techniques may not work as well with these mediums.

Bio: 

Debbie Mueller picked up a paintbrush for the first time in her 50s and has become an award-winning artist with recognition for both her still life and landscape paintings. Her story, her passion and success could encourage those of us who might think we are too old, or too something, to try a new pursuit, and find our next chapter in life. She is a juried artist at the Rockport Art Association and is represented by a number of wonderful galleries in New England and Texas. She has exhibited in numerous national juried exhibitions and was the first-place winner of theArt2Life National Exhibition in 2023. She lives in Durham, NH and practices medicine in Wolfeboro, NH. 

Learn more about the artist and see her work at debbiemuellerart.com.

Fee: $350 for members, $375 for non members