Summer Workshops With Visiting Artist

DANBURY — Wooster Community Art Center (WCAC) is offering two end-of-summer workshops led by prominent artist Susan Ferri, who is visiting the area from Santa Fe, N.M., this summer.

“Paintings, the Origins of Abstraction” is a five-day workshop designed for painting students who have an interest in developing their abilities while expanding their conceptual understanding of abstract painting and its fundamental origins.

Students will be encouraged to explore their own personal language of abstraction. All painting mediums and formats are valid. In-depth class discussion will include topics such as the simplification of form, Cubism, figurative abstraction and field painting.

Ms Ferri will also lead students in the study of paintings by Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Pollock and Rothko. The workshop is set for Monday through Friday, August 20 to 24, from 10 am to 3 pm each day, and is $290 per person.

“Landscape Painting: Alla Prima” is a five-day workshop that, through painting on location, will focus on the spontaneous and fluid approach to oil painting known as “alla prima.”

Students will work on the fundamental elements that compose a landscape: atmosphere, light, space, texture and time. They will also explore the lyrical magic of paint, movement and rhythm in the landscape, and the concept of color as temperature and emotion. Mediums, materials and techniques for “wet on wet” painting will be discussed.

The workshop is set for Monday through Friday, August 27 to 31, from 10 am to 3 pm, and is $290.

Ms Ferri attended New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, and the Santa Fe Art Institute. She holds a BA from St John’s College and an MFA in painting from Santa Fe International Academy of Art. Her work is widely exhibited in New Mexico.

Classes at WCAC are held in air-conditioned, well-equipped studios. For more information call 744-4825. WCAC is a nonprofit, educational visual arts organization established in 1965. It is located at 73 Miry Brook Road, near the Danbury Mall and Kenosia Avenue.