New Art Classes at The Village Shops and Galleries

May through July Workshops & Classes

Spring and summer – a great time for creativity, learning and inspiration. We’ve gathered a fantastic lineup of expert instructors for a wide variety of classes held at The Village Shops and Galleries’ new classroom. We’re at 10330 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito (between Eureka and Stockton, free on-street parking).

Pre-registration is required for all classes. Contact the instructor to pre-register. Class sizes are limited. A class may be cancelled if the minimum amount of students is not met. Visit The Village Shops and Galleries’ website for complete class descriptions, instructor biographies, and policies.  Click here to see all upcoming events, including classes.

INTRO TO CREATIVE SEWING with Tani Martinat

Beginning sewers welcome! Fun, fast introduction to the mechanics of using a regular sewing machine. Please bring your own machine with owner’s manual and accessories. If you don’t have a machine, the instructor can bring one. Sat 5/18 from noon to 4:00 pm.  Fee: $50. Email: tani@TaniMartinat.com

UPCYCLED PLASTIC BAG TOTES with Karen Morita

Don’t throw your plastic bags into landfill! Learn how to transform grocery plastic bags into a reusable strong tote bag. Learn to cut the bags, connect them to one another, and use basic crochet stitches to create tote bags & small change purses. Sun 5/19 or Thurs 5/23 or Thurs 6/6 or Sun 6/9:  from 1 pm to 4 pm.  Fee: $50.  Call Karen at (510) 525-8614

INTRO TO LEFT-HANDED CALLIGRAPHY with Douglas F. Jones

Learn four different techniques for writing the classic italic script. Series of 4 classes, take any or all.  (1) Right-handed: use right -hand stroke sequence: Sat 5/25 from noon to 2 pm; (2) Sideway method: write with a more natural flow by turning the page to 90 degrees, allows for beautiful flourishes: Weds 6/5 from 4:00 to 6 pm; (3) The typical “hook”, using left-hand stroke sequence, with letters written from left to right & backwards: Weds 6/19 from 4:00 to 6 pm; (4) The upside-down technique: requires letters to be formed upside-down, allowing the creation of graceful flourishes: Sat 6/22 from noon to 2:00 pm.   Fee: $20 or $90 for all four. Email: dfjones23@att.net

Doug Jones Left handed Calligraphy

PHOTO ART : ALTERED IMAGERY WORKSHOP with Heidi Rand

Learn to transform your photographs into works of art with different software programs , techniques, and methods. Enhance your original photos to achieve unique and artistic effects. Sun 5/26 from noon to 3:30 pm.  Fee: $50 Email: HeidiRand@gmail.com

Blending modes

THE ART OF THE CLOTH DOLL with Deborah Tanaka

Learn to cut, sew and assemble selected doll bodies and embellish them with flair creating a one-of-a-kind 3-dimensional soft figure for exhibit or play. Using fabrics, trim, buttons, flowers, thread, wool and felt, you will express yourself through the 3-D soft figure. Students 12 years and older.  Sun 6/2 or 6/16 or 6/23 or 6/30: from 11:30 am to 5:30 pm.Fee: $60 + $25 materials fee. $25 due upon registration; registration required 2 weeks in advance of workshop Email: deborahtanaka@ymail.com

Deb Tanaka doll workshop

EXPRESSIVE WATERCOLOR PAINTING with Yuvak Tuladhar

Series of four classes. Yuvak will show you how to paint watercolor with the combination of free flowing transparent and more controlled opaque watercolor methods. Beyond teaching the techniques, he will inspire you to learn more and excel. Students 13 years or older. Fri 6/7 & 6/14 & 6/21 & 62/8: from noon to 4 pm. Fee: $140 for four classes.  Email: yuvakt@gmail.com

Yuvak Tuladhar Two Girls

HANDMADE JEWELRY WITH YOUR INKJET PRINTER with Heidi Rand

Learn to make personalized jewelry with your own images, designs, or artwork. We will explore techniques to create unique earrings, necklaces, bracelets and pins from paper, fabric, and lutradur that you print on your inkjet printer. Sat 6/8 from noon to 3:30 pm.  Fee: $40 plus materials. Email: HeidiRand@gmail.com

Fabric cuff bracelet

PAINTING WITH KIDS with Grace Taormina

Paint a flower or butterfly on a 12″x12″ canvas using acrylic paints. Lean how to use different types of paint brushes and try a variety of paint techniques. Bring an apron or old t-shirt to protect your clothing. All materials provided. Ages 7 to 17. Wed 6/12 or Thurs 6/13 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Fee: $35.  Email: Grace.Taormina@gmail.com

POLYMER CLAY PENDANTS with Grace Taormina

Create beautifully detailed pendants using art stamps and polymer clay. We will experiment with a variety of materials such as mica powders and paints to enhance the detailing of your pendants. Use these pendants to make jewelry or to enhance other mixed media projects. All materials provided. Wed 6/12 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Fee: $50. Email: Grace.Taormina@gmail.com

ALTERED ART BOOKS with Grace Taormina

Alter an old board book with an array of mixed media techniques to create a one of a kind art book. Learn how to age, crackle, colorize, texturize, stamp and stencil papers. All materials provided. Thurs 6/13 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Fee: $40.  Email: Grace.Taormina@gmail.com

SELL YOUR ART ON ZAZZLE.COM with Heidi Rand

Learn to sell your artwork and designs on Ipod cases, jewelry, skateboards, home decor, postage stamps, and hundreds of other products! In this hands-on workshop, Heidi will guide you through the steps to open your own store on Zazzle, upload a set of your images, and create at least five different products. Expert tips to design your products, write descriptions, maximize your profits, and use free social media tools to market your store. Sat 6/29 from noon to 3:00 pm. Fee: $45. Email: HeidiRand@gmail.com

Zazzle, honeybee design necktie

EXPLORING LUTRADUR with Heidi Rand

Learn to create unique art with this exciting new product that combines the best qualities of fabric and paper. Lutradur looks, feels and folds like translucent paper and doesn’t tear or fray. It’s the perfect medium for a wide variety of mixed media art, crafting, and sewing. Sun 7/7 from noon to 3:00 pm.  Fee: $40 plus materials.  Email: HeidiRand@gmail.com

Interested in teaching? We’re always adding new instructors, just email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com

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Grand Opening Village Shops and Galleries!

Start with a dream, add inspiration and a lot of luck, stir in hard work and sweat: lifting, carrying, arranging and rearranging, then combine with laughter and friends coming through big-time … and what do you get? We’ve got a brand new Village Shops and Galleries to show off at our grand opening, Saturday March 16th, from noon to 8 p.m. Please join us for wine and refreshments, music, great art, and lots more!

Mixing the best of old and new, we’ve got vintage collectibles and antique furniture alongside brand new unique handmade art by amazingly talented (mostly local) artists and crafters. And we’re so excited to introduce our new gift shop featuring work crafted by independent artisans, including fine silver jewelry by designer Lis Mahnken of ME Designs; 

artful clothing and accessories by Michele Battise; wooden bowls, boxes and pens by David Earls;

David Earls’ wooden bowls and pens

exquisitely designed and stitched quilts by Carolyn Earls;

mixed media and textile crafts and jewelry by Grace Taormina and Rachel Taormina; handcrafted soap by sassafras and Bubble Queen Soaps & Scents;

and my own photo arts and crafts. We’re also proud to be the only place you can get the full line of collage artist Tamara Holland’s wonderful new line of inspirational greeting cards – and believe me, you will want one of each!

Tamara Holland’s cards

The walls are bursting with color, from resident artist Mark Canepa’s metal artwork and paintings to hand-pulled linocut and woodblock prints by Rich Fowler, vivid mixed-media paintings by Rachel Taormina, large-format photographs by John Hanses, and much more!

Rich Fowler’s prints

Looking for a classy, convenient meeting space for a private or public event? Searching for studio space? We have many options for rental -by the hour, day or longer. And it’s a dream come true for my co-manager Grace and myself to offer a wide variety of art workshops and classes in our brand new classroom, fully stocked with art supplies and equipment. We’re offering high-quality art and craft instruction at affordable prices in a range of subjects, for adults and children, and for all different skill levels.

The Village Shops is at 10330 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, between Eureka and Stockton streets. There’s plenty of free parking. Starting March 16th, we’ll be open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Are you an artist or crafter interested in learning about opportunities to show and sell your work, or to teach? If so, come on by to meet us and fill out an application.  Questions? Call (510) 525-5661 or email me at heidirand@gmail.com  

Sneak Peek Open House!

If you made it to the ArtFirst! Holiday Show and Sale, you know what a wonderful space we were lucky to be able to hold it in. We rented space for the pop-up show from Mark Canepa, resident artist and owner of The Village Shops and Galleries, 10330 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. 

The show went so well that Mark and my fellow ArtFirst!er Grace Taormina and I decided to take The Village Shops to the next level. We’re busy plotting, planning and painting walls, and we’re very proud to announce that our Grand Opening will be on March 16th.

Mixed Media artwork by Grace Taormina

You won’t have to wait that long to see what we’re up to, because we’re holding a sneak peek Open House on Saturday February 9th from noon to 6:00 p.m., and you’re all invited! Come by for a preview of what we’re working on: new art, a new gift shop with a wide range of art and crafts, collectibles, and much more!

We’re also excited for you to check out our brand new classroom, where experienced teachers will offer a wide variety of workshops and classes for children and adults of all skill levels and interests. We’ll take you on a tour of the event and studio spaces that will be available for individuals or groups to rent.

In honor of Valentine’s Day we’ll also have some great surprise activities, including a “make and take” where you can make a free valentine for your sweetie.

And if you’re an artist or crafter interested in learning about opportunities to show and sell your work, or to teach, come on by to meet us and fill out an application.

Questions? Call (510) 525-5661 or email me at heidirand@gmail.com

Garden Delights Arts & Crafts Workshops

Do you have a preferred learning style when you’re starting out with a new art technique? Do you like to have a printed book to refer to? Would you rather go to a hands-on workshop where you can try out the process with a teacher guiding you and other people to interact with? Are you partial to ebooks or pdf downloads because the price is lower than a workshop or printed book? What about an online workshop with diagrams and step-by-step instructions that you can download and use over and over?

People learn all sorts of different ways, and some techniques lend themselves more to one or another mode of study. As a teacher, I try to reach out to everyone by offering my workshops as books, ebooks, online classes, and in-person workshops. The workshops are thrilling because I meet so many talented people eager to find out about the techniques and materials that I’m excited about. It’s also incredibly satisfying to watch people work on their own projects and go home with, say, a piece of fabric that they printed using their own artwork.

I took a break from workshop teaching to finish my book about selling art online, but am happy to announce that I’m jumping back in, and I just found a great location in Pinole to start up again. I have the first three workshops scheduled and will be getting dates for the others. To make sure that everyone gets lots of attention, I limit the number of people in each workshop, so pre-registration is required. Please email me at HeidiRand@gmail.com with your questions or to pre-register for any of the workshops scheduled in June, July, and August. When you pre-register I’ll give you the address and more information about each workshop. You can see the list of my other workshops at my website.  If you’re interested in any of them email me and I’ll let you know when they’re scheduled.

Sunday June 24, 2012
INKJET PRINTING ON FABRIC
Learn to print your artwork, images & designs on cotton and silk with an inkjet printer. This exciting technique opens the door to many possibilities for creating original fabric to use in gifts, quilts, art pieces, and much more…. You will go home with at least one sheet of treated fabric printed with your images, and with the knowledge to begin printing fabric on your home inkjet printer.
11 am to 3 pm / $40 plus supplies

Saturday July 14, 2012
PHOTO ART : ALTERED IMAGERY
Learn to transform your photographs into works of art with software programs and techniques. We will explore how to enhance your original photos to achieve unique and artistic effects. We will use Adobe Photoshop Elements at the workshop, but will explore techniques that other image processing programs use.
11 am to 2:30 pm / $50

Saturday August 11, 2012
INTRODUCTION TO SELLING YOUR ARTWORK ONLINE
Overview class designed to teach you about the many different options to market and sell your artwork and/or crafts on the internet. You will learn the pros and cons of having your own website, selling through print-on-demand websites, selling your handmade work on Etsy or similar sites, using blogs and other social marketing tools, and much more. This information will save you much time in doing the research on your own, and save you from wasting time and money on the wrong kind of venue for your situation.
11 am to 2:30 pm / $60

If you’re not local, or you prefer book learning, check out my website for links to my three books:

• Sell Your Artwork & Crafts Online
• Inkjet Printing on Fabric
• Inkjet Printing on Lutradur

This is link to my online classes at CraftArtEdu.

Welcome

Double exposure self-portrait

Thanks for visiting my blog! You can see my photos and original designs at my website .  My handmade artwork is available through my Artfire shop or my Etsy gallery. You can also see a large variety of products with my designs on them at my Zazzle gallery.  See my ebook on Inkjet Printing on Lutradur at my website, or at my artfire shop, or on Lulu.  

Interested in learning to print on fabric or lutradur, or how to sell your artwork online?  I’ve written three books, which you can get in Kindle format or the printed version, or order right here as PDF downloads. Just click “add to cart” for whichever book(s) you’d like to purchase.

Sell Your Artwork & Crafts Online, only $7.99  

Inkjet Printing on Fabric, only $10.00  

Inkjet Printing on Lutradur, only $10.00 

Follow my Facebook fan page. Email me at heidirand@gmail.com for more information.