Artist Spotlight-Suzanne Kiertianis and Judy Babin's Show in CT

Suzanne Kiertianis, Artascope Studios fantastic manager, and Judy Babin, one of our fabulously talented stewards and teacher, were featured artist at the Guilford Free Library in Guilford CT in November. Their jewelry exhibit was up all month and featured their work in a beautiful enclosed case! This was their 3rd annual showing at the library. Both Judy and Suzanne are Connecticut natives and have a strong following back in their home state. Their show was well received and they were both able to make it down to meet and greet the show goers.

Suzanne and Judy will both be showing their work at our upcoming Artascope Holiday Show and Sale this Friday, Dec 12th. Judy will be showcasing her gorgeous silver work and Suzanne will have a taste of her jewelry talents with some other great items, such as handmade cards and prints. So when are you coming by to see their work? You can check out Judy Babin's work at http://www.judybdesigns.org/, but I would highly recommend seeing it up close, so plan on adding us to your holiday weekend plans. Suzanne is always there to show you around and give you a sampling of her latest endeavours!

Late Fall Artist Series start soon!

It's time to start planning your holiday shopping....maybe it will include some handmade gifts? There is nothing like giving a gift from your heart-made by your hands for someone special in your life. So why not consider trying out one of our Artist Series Classes to start making a few gifts...maybe even a little something for yourself! All of the Artist Series run for 6 weeks and will take us through mid December. The cost is $175 per session and the choices are extremely broad and inviting. Please feel free to sign up after being enticed by this blog to sign up today at http://www.artnightout.com/artistseries.htm. We look forward to sharing a few special hours with you soon!

Wireworking with Ann Liller
Nov 2 - Dec 7
Sundays 10am to 1pm
If you have a desire to add wire working to your beaded jewelry… this is the class for you! This intensive explores all types of creative ways that you can work with wire! What type of pliers? What gauge? Dead soft wire or hard? Learn important tips of wireworking … all while you create wondrous wire worked creations!

Decorative Painting with Libby Barrett
Nov 3 - Dec 8
Mondays 10am to 1pm

This class is guaranteed to ignite your artistic desires. Whether your taste is whimsical, modern, or classic you’ll enjoy creating vibrant art to customize your home. Learn the fundamentals of preparing surfaces for paint and creating a durable finish as you create art for your floors, table and walls! Great for beginners or seasoned painters!

Metalsmithing with Christina Taylor
Nov 3 - Dec 8
Mondays 10am to 1pm

Here’s your chance to learn metalsmithing in a fun, relaxed atmosphere! Learn how to handle the equipment necessary to create fantastic soldered jewelry. Master the torch, drill, rolling mills, hammers, mandrels, and other tools to create gorgeous rings, bangles and earrings. Great for beginners or returning students.

Stained Glass with Gayle Raposa
Nov 4 - Dec 9
Tuesdays 10am to 1pm

This class is a great way to get started in stained glass. You’ll learn the complete copper foil method from start to finish. Create ornaments, panels, and votives. Work from standard patterns or create your own design and then cut, foil, and solder gorgeous glass accents for your home.

Metalsmithing with Clint Fulkerson
Nov 4 - Dec 9
Tuesdays 6 to 9pm

Here’s your chance to learn metalsmithing in a fun, relaxed atmoshpere! Learn how to handle the equipment necessary to create fantastic soldered jewelry. Master the torch, drill, rolling mills, hammers, mandrels, and other tools to create gorgeous rings, bangles and earrings. Great for beginners or returning students.

Dye Painting with Sue Drown-Trout
Nov 5 - Dec 18
Thursdays 10am to 1pm

Add a beautiful painterly quality to your dyed creations! Using soy wax and paintable dyes, enjoy the art of painting on fabric to create beautiful designs. Turn a simple piece of cloth into a masterpiece! Perfect for someone curious about dye painting or for the seasoned artist to try out new methods.

Sewn Beading with Suzanne Kiertianis
Nov 6 - Dec 11
Fridays 10am to 1pm

Curious about what to do with those tiny beads? This class will explore the various techniques of sewn beading. You'll learn the basic techniques such as: peyote, herringbone, spirals and cabaret. Develop your own style with these fun stitches! Create unique bracelets, necklaces and even pendants that will catch everyone's attention.

Artascope Teacher Highlight-Clint Fulkerson

Clint Fulkerson is our newest Artascope teacher. We are so grateful to have an innovative, talented metalsmith and artist working in our jewerly studio along side our other talented staff. Clint just kicked off his first Artist Fall Metalsmith Series on Wednesday nights starting last Wednesday the 17th. We expect great things from his students and will be sure to showcase their jewelry when finished.

So how about a little history on this talented artist: Clint Fulkerson is a Portland native who spent his childhood playing video games, making labyrinths for his hamsters, building model ships, teaching his brother how to draw in exchange for Kung Fu lessons, and pondering the true colors of dinosaurs.

During High School, he experimented using pen and ink, pastels, watercolor, acrylic paints, and ceramics. He took oil painting classes on Saturdays at Maine College of Art. In his Senior year, Clint was chosen to attend Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, where he tried cyanotype printing and steel forging. He went to Massachusetts College of Art intending to study illustration, but chose to study metalsmithing after seeing the tools and the incredible, small-scale objects students were making in the department. While at Mass Art, he also studied intaglio printing, black and white photography, glass casting, welding, website creation, and 3D computer modeling.

In Boston, he taught wax carving and lost-wax casting at Diablo Glass and Metal, and made jewelry from his studio there. He also worked at Haynes Flute Company casting flute parts in silver and gold, soldering, and managing inventory. In July of 2006, he and his wife Kate decided to move back to Portland, but first took a month long adventure in England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. They had the opportunity to see a daunting amount of art, especially in London, Paris, and Amsterdam.

He currently has a studio in Portland. His drawings are in the Drawing Center's viewing program and is represented in Portland by Four Walls Gallery. You can learn more about Clint and view some of his 2 dimensional work at http://www.clintart.com/. To learn more about his Artist Series at Artascope Studios and check out our newest offerings, go to http://www.artnightout.com/artistseries.htm.

Fall Artist Series News

There's a little chill in the air. It's time to start thinking about taking some of your activities inside. So what are you planning to do for yourself this fall? What about learning a new craft or deepening your artistic skills?

Suzanne, our amazingly talented studio manager, has been working hard over the summer to wrangle up some very talented teachers and expanding our Artist Series listings. The Artist Series is a 6 week class to allow you to really indulged your inner artist, investigate materials and connect with fellow free spirits. Our Early Fall Artist Series will begin this Sunday, Sept 14th, with a brand new addition, PMC with Ann Liller. She has become quite a PMC star over the years. Her Art Night Out Classes and ArtEscape Weekends are always packed, so make sure to take advantage of learning about this amazing silver clay material with our PMC guru. Class from 10am-1pm.

We will have a busy Monday from 10am-1pm with two Series offerings. Libby Barrett will teach Decorative Painting while Christina Taylor will host her metalsmithing class. Tuesday mornings, Gayle Raposa is back with her popular Stained Glass Artist Series. Wednesdays are another busy day. Liz Prescott starts us off early with Acrylic Painting from 9:30am-12:30pm and our newest Metalsmith teacher, Clint Fulkerson, will make his debut with his Wednesday night jewelry class from 6-9pm. Look for a future blog on this exciting new teacher....

10am-1pm on Thursday, Sue Drown-Trout returns for Batik and Dying and Suzanne Kiertianis, the mastermind behind all this, will end the week with her Sewn Beading class. We request preregistration for all courses to ensure running the classes without a hitch. Please click on this link to find out more details about these fantastic offerings. http://www.artnightout.com/artistseries.htm

So now all you have to decide....which one should I start with! Feel free to give us a ring if you are having trouble deciding which one. Our talented staff of Stewards will be able to help direct you to the right choice...like there's a wrong one!

Summer Artist Series Highlights and Fall Artist Series Line Up

Metalsmithing
Artascope Studio's Summer Metalsmithing Artist Series with Christina Taylor wrapped up this week with students finishing a polishing their treasures. First time metals student, Kelly Manahan, said she was "very satisfied with what she created adding that she spent a little extra time in the studio practicing what she had learned". Kelly made several pieces including the three stone ring pictured here. Deb Freedman made the copper beads shown texturing, dapping, and then soldering copper disks together. Anytime you decide to take on any of our 6 week Artist Series, you have access to the studio and equipment 7 days a week. This added bonus makes the classes pretty tempting to try out.

Acrylic Painting
Liz Prescott finished off another successful Summer Artist Series in Acrylic Painting. The classes expanded this semester with new students including a mother/daughter team. There was a great community energy in the class. Weekly discussions on students work and painting demos by Liz make this class truly stellar. Some of the students tried their hand at painting outside in our gardens while other students focused on still life images in our painting studio upstairs.

Those are just a few highlights from our Summer Artist Series at Artascope. We also had wonderful classes in Stained Glass and Decorative Painting. Stained Glass and Acrylic Painting will return for a fall Artist Series. We will also be adding Batiking and Sewn Beaded Jewelry to the offerings. The Fall Artist Series will begin the week of September 15th. All series are held from 10am-1pm for 6 weeks. Please check out the link to see what may perk your artistic interest. http://www.artnightout.com/artistseries.htm