This fun class is designed for experienced painters working in any medium, who want to explore ways to create more modern, bold, and expressive paintings by taking a less representational approach. Each week we’ll explore ways to employ one of the abstract elements of painting; line, value, color, shape, and texture to express an unexpected idea or statement. There will be a short presentation, followed by some simple exercises. This is not a “how to paint” class, rather a place to explore and experiment with fellow artists. We’ll be working independently (using materials of your choice) from still lives and/or photos. There will be a quick critique at the end of every class and “homework”. Any specific materials needed will be emailed each week.

Nancy earned a BA in Fine Art from Muskingum University, then studied painting at the Aegean School of Fine Arts in Paros, Greece and at the Instituto Allende in San Miquel Mexico. After a career in the hospitality business and while raising two children, she resumed her studies at Mass College of Art. She teaches numerous on-line and live workshops throughout New England. She lives in Norwell with her husband and yellow lab Limoncello. 

Materials List: This is an "open medium" class. Please bring whatever materials you need to use in your medium of choice. Each week, Nancy will email students with any specific needs for upcoming classes. 

One great way to strengthen your skills, and hone a consistent voice around a subject is to do a series. In this 10 week class we will explore what it takes to develop a series of work based on your own interests and desires. Examples of this may be: skies, trees, critters, ocean, marsh, vessels, figures, tablescapes, abstracts …. Etc, etc. You will be guided and prompted to dig deep and yet stay within your subject. Any medium that you are familiar with is acceptable, as a matter of fact the series may cross mediums - for example you may enjoy watercolor AND acrylics, or pastels…or mixed media. All levels welcome. 

About the Instructor: Kelley MacDonald

After getting her Art History degree at Wheaton College, Kelley continued taking art classes at various Art Associations for 10 years before she started painting.  First with watercolor, then oil and now happily with acrylic and mixed media, it has been a lifetime of growing and exploring all things art.  

Kelley has won numerous awards, and has taught classes and workshops for many years.  While for the majority of her career Kelley has been a literal, representational painter, in the past 4 years she has been diving into abstraction, particularly Intuitive Abstraction.  The history involved on the canvas, the multiple layers, the reveal and conceal and push and pull are what attracts her to this method. 

A favorite thing to do is to travel, and be inspired by different landscapes and  cityscapes.  Kelley has traveled to Holland to paint, along with many places on this side of the ocean, namely Nova Scotia, Sedona, Santa Fe, St. Simon’s Island, Seattle, San Miguel de Allende, MX, California and Maine. 

In 2009 Kelley founded the Artists’ Challenge Group “Girls Just Wanna Paint” which is a collection of award winning artists  who post a response to a new topic every month consecutively since July of 2009. Aside from the Providence Art Club Kelley is a member of the North River Arts Society in Marshfield, MA.  She has taught at the Art Club, Bristol Art Museum, and at North River Arts Society.

Materials List - All, or as many as you can manage:

Materials List for Developing A Series Class

-Any size canvas (new one each week) you choose - from 6x6 to 30x30 - whatever you are comfortable with.  Canvas, board, canvas board… whatever you like to paint on.  Your goal is to start a new painting each week

Disposable Palette

Colors - whatever medium you choose (acrylic, watercolor, pastel, oil) I would suggest  at least this limited palette:

• Large tube of titanium white
• 1 warm and 1 cool tube of
• Yellow - (ex. Cad lemon and cad yellow medium)
• Red (ex. Cadmium red light and Alizarin Crimson, magenta or rose)
• Blue (ex. Ultramarine and pthalo)
• Neutral such as BURNT umber (not raw)

Brushes in an array of sizes - I use flats, but you may use whatever you are comfortable with, in a 1/4 inch size, a 1/2 in size and a 1 inch size.  Then a BIG one and a tiny, detail one.

At least one palette knife - any size

Water container such as a large yogurt or ricotta tub

Apron or overshirt - optional

Paper towels

The goal of the class will be to demystify watercolors, from planning, materials, composition, washes, shapes, perspective, values, edges and anything else that comes up. The day will start with a short talk and demo followed by the class trying to paint following the advice. Open to all levels. 

Watercolor artist Jack Haran is the past president of the New England Watercolor Society (NEWS) and past President of North River Arts Society (NRAS). He sits on the Board of Directors for NRAS. He earned a BS in Fine Arts from Northeastern University and a School of the Museum of Fine Arts Diploma. He has studied with Tony Van Hasselt and Judi Wagner, Zygmond Jankowski, John Kilroy, Alvaro Castagnet and Joseph Zbukvic.

Materials List

Backing Board and Masking tape to mount paper – a backing board is anything stiff enough to mount your paper onto, I use Coroplast white corrugated plastic.  It is the stuff that politicians make sign out of (you can get it cheap after an election – pick it up at the side of the road).

Easel - anything to allow you to work on your paper at about a 35 degree angle,

Water Bucket and Spray Bottle,

Palette with mixing wells,

Paper should be good quality 140 pound at least.  I use Saunders Waterford rough.

Brushes: Some of the brands mentioned below come in a series of sizes and shapes, so it would be worthwhile looking them up and comparing prices.

The size of the brush is important.  There should be 3 brushes, one large, one medium and one small.

1 Large soft brush for washes, ie. Escoda Aquario Mop # 18 OR Princeton Quill # 6 OR 1¼ inch Flat Wash OR Cheap Joe – Dream Catcher # 16 (this is made by Escoda) OR Blick Escoda Ultimo Synthetic Squirrel Flat ,3/4 or 1 inch OR Blick Master Squirrel brushes (these are made by Escoda and are cheaper versions of the Ultimo) OR Mary Whyte’s cat tongue 3/4 inch made by Artexpress

1 Medium Round, ie. Cheap Joe Golden Fleece # 12 OR Escoda Perla # 16 OR Cheap Joe – Dream Catcher # 12 (this is made by Escoda)

1 small rigger, ie. Cheap Joe Golden Fleece rigger # 4

The brushes listed above are good brushes but if you already have brushes that are equivalent then yours will be fine. 

Paints

Three primary colors, a warm and a cool of each, such as:

Reds – Alizarin Crimson and Quinacridone Red,

Blues – Cerulian and Cobalt

Yellows – Lemon Yellow and Raw Sienna

Neutral Tint, Gouache White

This 5 week course is a fun Paint-Along-and-Learn art class for beginning adult painters with teacher Dianne Legro. Everything you need to know to get started will be introduced along with easy steps to get you started painting with ease and confidence right away. You will learn about the materials and tools you will need to get started, the types of paints canvas surfaces available, sketching your  thumbnail outline, color mixing and color harmony, composing a painting, brush work and the 4 steps to start any painting. 

About the Instructor: Dianne Legro

Dianne is a lifelong teaching artist nationally and internationally who teaches privately, she also enjoys teaching  “Painting Canvas Masterpieces” to children at Inly School.  This Fall we welcome Dianne to our faculty at North River Arts Society. 

Materials And Supplies List

• Paint Brushes - 1”flat, #6 or #8 filbert, a #4 round and fan brush. Bring any other brushes you have. 
• Paints - Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cad. Red Medium, Utramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre, Titanium White, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson.  Please bring what you have as well. 
• Surfaces - 8x10 canvas panel and 9x12 canvas panels 
• Extras needed - Paper towels, water container, apron, palate knife, tape, pencil

Join Kevin Dunn for evening bird carving. During the ten weeks, you will carve a third-size raven. Both power carvers and hand tool carvers are welcome. This class is not recommended for beginners. Bird cutouts, legs, eyes, and paint are provided.  

The raven in the picture is not the same as the one we will do in class since it is almost lifesize. Questions?  Call 339 832 6373.

About the Instructor: Kevin Dunn

Kevin Dunn has been carving birds for over seventy years and his birds have been sold in gift shops and galleries in Washington, D.C., Cambridge, Cohasset, Martha’s Vineyard, as well as the Marshfied Fair, the South Shore Science Center Corn Festival, and the South Shore Audubon’s Webster Farm Day. “There is such creativity involved. A lot of decisions go into creating something,” he said. “But at the same time it’s very therapeutic. You lose yourself in what you’re physically doing. Mentally, all the cares of the world just fade away.”
- Kevin Dunn in Patriot Ledger

Paint from the heart, there are no rules and no judgement! Paint like a kindergartener, dare to have a "bad" painting, let yourself be surprised by your art. This class is for beginners or experienced painters and all mediums are welcome. 

Page will do some demonstrations in acrylic paint but the focus of the class is to paint in your own unique style, to have fun, and to be inspired by each other as your work improves each week. An open "critique" will wrap up the class each week for feedback and encouragement. 

About the Instructor: Page Railsback 

Page never learned the rules in Art school so as a self taught painter enjoys the freedom of experimenting with no boundaries.
Page received a Masters in Education and her natural talent as a teacher is reflected in her ongoing workshops and classes. She has lived on the South Shore of Boston for over forty years. She was privileged to receive a Residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown MA in 2013  granted through the Copley Society of Art. She is a juried Gallery Artist at the Copley Society of Boston, The South Shore Art Center in Cohasset MA and Solace Gallery in Long Beach Island New Jersey. Her work can be seen at her Studio in Rockland and at NEST in Dedham MA.

PAGE PEARSON RAILSBACK MATERIALS LIST

• Canvas pad  16x20 or 4 small canvas boards ex. 8x8 12x8..
• Sketch pad
• Twig Charcoal and or Sharpie
• 4 Larger canvas 20x20, 20x16 or larger…one for each class
• Water container or turps
• Brushes 3 or more -1/2 inch, 1 inch ,2 inch…Big Brushes
• Palette knife
• Paints: 6 Essentials 
• Light yellow, medium yellow (or ochre)
•  Ultramarine blue and one other : Thalo blue,cerulean or manganese. 
• Alizarin red or deep magenta, Cadmium red light 
• Big tube of White titanium 
• Black, optional
• Any other color you like is optional…Viridian green, orange, pink etc
• Palette, paper palette is an option
• Water spray bottle for acrylics or watercolor
• Rags or paper towel
• Apron
• camera (phone)

This 6-week class is designed for the beginner and intermediate watercolorist, this course will first provide the fundamentals and then explore the many techniques of watercolor. Artworks may be based on still life setups, photos or your imagination. Emphasis will be on color and design with the goal of creating an original emotional statement.

About the Instructor: Mary Callahan

Mary Callahan is a Copley Master in the Copley Society of Art, an Honorary Lifetime Member of the New England Watercolor Society and is a member of many other fine art organizations in Massachusetts and New York. 

Materials List: 

•  Paper 
• • 140 lb.  Is a good weight.
  • Paper comes in different surfaces.  I prefer cold pressed or rough. Blocks are the easiest.  If you prefer loose sheets, you will need a board to tape it to.
• Brushes
• • A one inch flat
  • A 12 and a 10 round
• Pallet
• • John Pike pallet is a good one
  • Or a heavy butcher tray can be used. 
• Easels (NRAS has easels for use)
• •  You will need a board to tape your paper to if you are not working on a block.
  •  If you like to work flat you won’t need an easel.
• Water container
• Paper towels or tissues
• Tape
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Sponge
• Pencil
• Paint 
• • Cadmium yellow
  • New Gamboge
  • Cadmium red light
  • Alizarin crimson
  • Cobalt Blue
  • French Ultramarine Blue
  • Cerulean Blue

This class runs two consecutive evenings for 3 weeks to paint from live flower still lifes. Students will use limited palettes to paint floral arrangements from life. Each week, Ann will guide students in painting a new arrangement using simple compositions to focus on the flower, it’s properties and complexities and painting technique. 

About the Instructor: Ann Musto

Ann has been a plein air and studio oil painter for over twenty years. Her interest lies in working to capture the beauty of what we see in light and color.  Ann’s work includes portraits, landscapes and still life. Ann completed her studies at the Academy of Realist Art in Boston, a traditional atelier. She has been a long time member of North River Arts Society and has served on the NRAS Board of Directors and on the NRAS Arts Committee.

AnnMustoArt.com

Ann will provide floral arrangements and NRAS supplies tables and easels.

Materials needed:

• Drawing board
• pencils/ eraser
• paper
• masking tape
• Palette
• oil colors (not student grade..)
• • titanium white
  • Burnt Sienna
  • ivory black
  • ultramarine blue
  • cobalt blue
  • cad yellow pale
  • yellow ochre pale
  • cadmium red
  • Alizarin Crimson
  • indian yellow- optional
  • Magenta - optional
• Odorless mineral spirits! in closed container
• rags or paper towels
• Palette knife of choice, I use T 15, 16, or 17( 1- 2 inches)
• Variety of brushes of your choice. I use both flats and filberts and a mop brush and lean toward sable or synthetic. If you don’t know what you like get a small starter set at Blicks or Michaels for oils.
• Three panels or primed wrapped canvas - you decide the size, but in interest of time (two sessions) I would suggest 10 x 10, 9 x 12 or similar sizes.