Personal Enrichment

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Open Studio: Ceramics Handbuilding and Throwing: PM Session VI

Jun

June 5th to 26th, 2025

$140 More Info

Open studio is offered for those who are interested in using our space and materials to make clay work independently from a class and is available for use only by those who have taken at least one ceramics class at our studio or for those with prior experience that has been approved by the studio manager. Open studio members can choose to handbuild, throw on the wheel, or both! Registration will include 25 pounds of clay, use of wheels and tools, a storage shelf, and the glazing and firing of work made in that month. All clay must be purchased through Gorham Arts Alliance and all firings will be done by the studio manager. You are welcome to purchase your own cone 5/6 glazes to use in firings if you want something other than what is provided. All classes are held at the Art and Nature Center at Tannery Brook.

PM Session VI: 4 classes, Thursdays, 6/5-6/26, 5:00pm-8:00pm, $140

Additional, optional work time will be offered for open studio members and current students on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays 10am-1pm and Fridays from 5pm-8pm. Members are welcome to attend as many or as few times during the week as they choose, but Thursdays will be the only day where there is guaranteed space. The extra, optional work time is first come, first serve for available wheel use and table space. The studio will be closed on federal holidays.

Acadian Arts Watercolor Painting Retreat: Painting Flower Portraits in Watercolor at The Harbor View House

with Mary Laury

Apr

April 11th to 14th, 2025

$595 More Info

Your instructor, Mary Laury, is an accomplished watercolorist and highly esteemed teacher. She encourages all her students to believe they can be successful. Painting is an exciting medium; it flows, moves, and does beautiful things. We will start at the beginning if you have never painted in watercolors. If you have painted before, you will also learn new tips and tricks. We all learn together! $595 includes the workshop fee, all meals, and special activities to extend your learning from the day's workshops.

Recent Acadian Arts Retreats participants commented: "Great instructor! Mary acts as a guide to develop our own style. "Easy, no-stress instruction."

4/11-4/14, Painting Flower Portraits in Watercolor at The Harbor View House. Paint flower portraits realistically. You will paint pictures of flowers in detail, but more painterly than a scientific illustration. We won't count veins, but we will count petals! Painting flowers is a wonderful exercise in observation. We will paint on smooth paper; Strathmore Series 500, one hundred percent cotton paper, either plate or vellum. This paper can be purchased in large sheets at Artist and Craftsman in Portland, which we will cut up. Bring a #2 round brush and a #6 round brush, pencil, palette, tube watercolors in the three primary colors, and perhaps a green paper towel and water container. And bring a plant or flower specimen with no more than nine petals. This is a slow and careful process, and 9 petals and some leaves are enough happiness for us all.

Harbor View House is in Prospect Harbor on the coast of Maine, with an intimate group of artists, cooks, and creatives! Evening activities include a private house concert by Grammy-balloted singer-songwriter, storyteller, and author Gordan Ward. For more information about the workshop, call Mary at 207-632-2251. To book your stay at the inn, call 207-963-9122 or visit https://harborviewhousellc.com/.

Registration closed

Wheel Throwing (Beginner/Intermediate): Tuesday Evening, Session II

with Mackenzie Martin

Mar

March 4th to April 15th, 2025

$250 More Info

Join us in this fun, in-depth exploration of clay! This class will provide an introduction to throwing on the pottery wheel and becoming acquainted with our studio and materials. In these 7-week sessions you will learn about all the stages of working with clay: throwing, trimming, surfacing, firing, glazing, and beyond! Our small class size and experienced teachers allow for plenty of individual instruction and learning at your own pace, so whatever experience level you are coming in with works for us. You will leave with your own unique body of work and an exciting new skill/hobby! All classes are held at the Art and Nature Center at Tannery Brook.

Tuesday Evening, Session II: 7 classes, 3/4-4/15, 6:00pm-8:00pm, $250

Additional, optional work time will be offered for current students and members on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays 10am-1pm and Fridays from 5pm-8pm. This optional work time is first come, first serve for available wheel use and table space. The studio will be closed on federal holidays.

Decoupage Oyster Shell

with Melissa Evans

Apr

April 16th, 2025

$40 More Info

Join us for a night of DIY fun where each participant will make various decoupage oyster shell products. Each participant will be painting and assembling various trinket dishes and oyster shell ornaments- 4 in total. This class is meant for beginners. All tools, instructions, and materials will be waiting for you when you arrive. A $20 material fee is to be paid in cash on the night of your class. Melissa started her jewelry business, Gem Lounge Jewelry, in 2009 and is a proud 8th-generation Mainer, having grown up in southern Maine before attending college in New Orleans. Upon graduation, Ms. Evans moved back to New England, eventually settling back in her beloved state of Maine and finding inspiration for her creations all around. While her roots in Maine keep her grounded in the beautiful state, wanderlust brings her on travels around the world.

Wednesday, 4/16, 6:00pm-8:00pm, GMS, $40

Acadian Arts Watercolor Painting Retreat: Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Canada

with Mary Laury

Jun

June 20th to 23rd, 2025

$595 More Info

Recent Acadian Arts Retreats participants commented: "Great instructor! Mary acts as a guide to develop our own style. "Easy, no-stress instruction."

6/20-6/23, Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Canada. Step back to a time when President Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor, and their family escaped to their "beautiful little island" in the Canadian Maritimes. We will be exclusive guests of the international park, staying in historic Victorian cottages. Workshop participants will explore and paint the same coastal scenery enjoyed by the summer residents at the turn of the 20th century. Register for the retreat, and then call Sherry Mitchell at 506-752-2922 to make room reservations. Acadian Arts Retreats participants will have exclusive overnight accommodations in the park.

Ukulele for Beginners Session II

with Duncan Perry

Mar

March 4th to 25th, 2025

$79 More Info

Join the ukulele revolution! Here's your chance to learn how to play this wonderfully versatile, go-anywhere instrument in our no-stress program for beginners. There are four classes in all, one each week on Zoom. Bring a ukulele, your sense of humor, passion for music, and curiosity about playing. Once you master the basics, you won't want to stop. Will you be recruited to perform at Carnegie Hall? Well, not right away. But, as the saying goes, 'The best player isn't the person who can pick or strum the most notes. It isn't the person with the greatest technical skill. It's the person who can touch the most hearts.' So grab a uke, you don't need to read music - sign up, tune up and show up. If you don't own a ukulele, please get in touch with us for helpful information about buying one (uketime24@gmail.com). Let your musical journey begin! Duncan Perry, a multi-instrumentalist, has played ukulele for over 14 years. He is a popular and experienced teacher and performer who offers classes up and down the Southern coast of Maine.

Session II, 4 classes, Tuesdays, 3/4-3/25, 6:00pm-7:30pm, virtual, $79