Winter Workshops

These all level welcome, fun filled two day classes run from 10am-1pm each day. Registration is $200 for two half days of instruction and can be made by calling 401-364-0120 at which time a materials list will be provided.

Watercolor with Burl Dawson
January 16 & 17, 2025 10am – 1pm

A Rhode Island native, Burl is a BFA graduate of Swain School of Design, majoring in painting, with a minor in design. He holds a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Southeastern Massachusetts University. Burl taught Art to grades K- 12 in North Smithfield where after 29 years he retired. Since 1983 Burl and his family have resided in the Green Hill Beach area where much of his inspiration comes.

Vintage Paper Collage Workshop with Sarah Z. Short
February 13 & 14, 2025 10am – 1pm

Discover the hidden artistic potential in ephemera from the past. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to elevate everyday discarded materials into works of art. Using vintage magazines from the 50’s and 60’s, you’ll learn composition techniques as you create small collages.

In addition, you might bring your own vintage papers and ephemera with personal meanings and use them to create a piece to gift to a friend or loved one. Perhaps you have ticket stubs, love letters, poems, or book pages that tell the story of a long friendship. If you don’t want to use the original, bring a photocopy.

What You’ll Learn
●      Expert techniques for selecting and working with vintage magazines and ephemera
●      Essential collage methods
●      Artists to inspire

Perfect For
● Beginning artists eager to explore a new medium
● Intermediate artists looking to expand their practice
● Anyone fascinated by vintage materials and their creative potential

Sarah Z Short is a mixed-media collage artist from the woods of Rhode Island. Her background as an English teacher explains her love of books, which she also enjoys using as the primary material for her collages. She’s inspired by faded book covers, foxing on pages, letterpress printing, and vintage ephemera.

Sarah begins by printing with wooden type on pages rescued from discarded books. Her favorite tool is the Nolan Proof Press, which she uses for letterpress printing. The prints are then abstracted in her collage compositions to make the original letter forms unrecognizable. Her interest is in the shapes and white space she can create with the typography.

Her collages and prints can be found in galleries and as licensed prints. She has been published in print and online magazines and teaches online and in-person.