Abstract Expressionism Workshop

Note: Refunds minus the credit card transaction fee are available up to four weeks before the beginning of the workshop. After that, the student must find a replacement and negotiate payment with the replacement. If you need to cancel, contact us. The team may be able to help find a replacement. Please see the LAA Cancellation and Refund Policy.

LAA Members: Use your member code during check-out for a discounted price. The member code can be found in your membership confirmation email and any LAA newsletter.

SEPT 14, 2023 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Instructor: BLAISE SIMONELLI​

LOUISVILLE ART CENTER
801 Grant Ave, Louisville, CO 80027

Member $55
​Non-member $75

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
— “LOOSEN UP!”

Learn tips and tricks to paint Abstracts intuitively.

Beginning in a sort of reckless abandon fashion, we will work a process primarily of adding and taking away.

With this technique, we will harness more intention and bring in brighter highlights or accent areas towards the end of the piece.

In this workshop we will go over color, ways to blend paint for softer areas, composition, mark making,  but more importantly, to go with your intuition and let go.



BLAISE SIMONELLI

Blaise Simonelli is an abstract expressionist painter, who works with acrylics and a variety of mark making tools. Her work portrays subtle movement with an emphasis on space, oftentimes creating an ethereal feel. Her paintings generate a soft yet provocative mood, through color and texture. Inspired by intuition, Blaise strives to harmonize quiet and bold space in her work, as representations of dichotomies and balance.

Born in southwest Florida, Blaise moved to Boulder, Colorado in 2011.In 2018, she toured her first Open Studios exploring different artists and art forms in the community. She immediately found the palettes and easels of local painters nothing short of romantic, and longed for the experience of creating art herself. In 2019 she began painting at home. Since her onset, she has cultivated her own sense of preference and style of painting, but continues to experiment and learn each time she shows up to the canvas. For Blaise, painting abstract is an enchanting and profound experience, that she finds both humiliating and liberating.

When not painting on canvas, Blaise manages her own business house painting. More ideally, you can find her enjoying long moments with her pet pigs, or the beautiful outdoors with her husband.

ARTIST WEBSITE

Some of Blaise’s work:

MATERIALS

  • Bring 2 gessoed panels or canvasses, ready to paint.
  • 2 prepared canvasses (any size you’re comfortable with) I’ll be using a larger, square format, possibly a 36×36
  • Acrylic paint colors that resonate with you. (For the workshop I’ll be using white, black, along with some sort of blue, yellow, and magenta, as well as an assortment of other colors including a florescent.)
  • Mark making tools: I love Derwent inktense pencils and Woody Stabilos. Could be as simple as a pencil if you don’t want to invest in something new.
  • Assortment of brushes: I’ll bring both small and larger brushes of different shapes, but bring your own as well.
  • A palette knife of any kind (not necessary but nice to have for scratching the surface or laying down paint in a different way)
  • A cup for water
  • A soft dish sponge
  • Spray bottle for water

Member $55
​Non-member $75

LAA Members: To get the discounted price, use your member code during check-out. The Member Code can be found in your membership confirmation email and any LAA Newsletter.

The class has been filled.  Please complete this form to be added to the waitlist.

Questions? Go to the Contact Us form and be sure to specify this workshop with your question.