INTERESTED IN HOSTING MY WORKSHOP?

Looking for a new, fresh offering for your students or members?
You have a connection to an institute or studio space that would be interested in hosting a workshop?
Let's meet and have that conversation!

Availabe workshops:

• COLOR + DESIGN intensive - three to five day workshop 
• FIGURE DRAWING AND EXPRESSIVE MARK MAKING - three to five days
• Other workshops and group critiques are also possible, tailored to artists' specific needs
• If the venue is no more than 60 minutes driving from Richmond, VA, I am happy to drive your way and back the same day.

         Beyond 60 miles - lodging may be needed and/or transportation arrangements. 

Student Testimonials

Thank you Mark for this rich and full experience. My five major takeaways from the workshop -
​simplicity, making every move count (stop and be complete), looking at the whole/relationships, careful execution and pausing to really see. I will be processing all of this for some time.

Since the workshop, I feel more confident that I could select three primary colors and go about mixing and planning a color palette for a painting or series. Something I found very intimidating before.

I have known teachers who were simply instructors, and I have known teachers who were excellent and generous. But you Mark, are more than an excellent teacher. Your great reverence and respect for what art is, and what it can be, are obvious and contagious.

Past workshops conducted:
​
​Online LIVE and pre-recorded workshops and courses and 1:1 mentorship / 2020 to present

La Romita Art Center, Italy / 2019, 2020*
Stapleford Granary, Cambrigde, UK / 2020*
Salt Lake City Collective / 2020*
Port Townsend School of the Arts, WA / 2019, 2020* 
Mendocino Art Center, CA / 2018, 2019
California College of the Arts Extended Ed Program / 2016, 2017
Benicia studio / 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Arts Benicia / 2014, 2015

*Unfortunately, even though they were full, all 2020 workshops needed to be cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic

Please contact me to further discuss details.

COLOR + DESIGN

For more examples of student work, please click HERE

What you will learn
This is a three to five day intensive workshop wherein I provide artists with a comprehensive, in-depth dive into the world of Color + Design. My forte is meeting each artist where they are, helping to expand their knowledge of concepts, techniques and strategies in order create compositions of richly orchestrated color.  This course has proven to help overcome doubt, fear, and uncertainty - a common malady among artists. Knowledge + Craft = Freedom. This mantra helps furthering one's own personal vision and voice in their studio practice. As a group, we open many doors, push through some walls and set up a path for each participant to further explore.

This course is designed to benefit artists who work figuratively and abstractly. Some drawing/painting experience is preferable.

Topics covered:

• Identifying the seven compositional elements (line, shape, color, value, mass, space, texture).
• Discussing the seven principles of design ( balance, visual weight, emphasis, hierarchy, direction, simplicity, unity).
• Exploration of Color and Color Mixing / color relationships and the understanding of hue, value, & saturation
• Understanding Abstraction / How to see ALL art & subject matter, based on abstract structures and arrangements
• Design + Composition / putting it all together with various visual exercises​

Student Testimonials
​
Please take a moment to read this  Blog post from the artist Robin Olsen 

​... plus a few more here:

This workshop will enhance one’s studio practice and life in general.  It will speak to you. Each day you decide what are the most meaningful takeaways for your practice. Mark created a lovely balance for both learning and allowing individual expression.

Mark is a great lover and keeper of knowledge, a perpetual student who not only wants to demystify the knowledge for his students, he wants them to have the keys to the kingdom. His great reverence and respect for what art is and what it can be are obvious and contagious.

I will keep these days (in the workshop) as a torch to be light when in a tunnel.

EXPRESSIVE MARK MAKING

For more examples of student work, please click HERE

EXPRESSIVE MARK MAKING is an exciting course for artists who enjoy drawing the figure and are ready to explore daring approaches in mark-making. I have developed numerous exercises to help stretch, take risks and surprise oneself in discovering the power of intuition in drawing the figure. 
This is a three to five day workshop that focuses primarily on shorter poses in order to allow the artist to experiment with various tools, techniques and strategies, generating many drawings in the process. The emphasis is on pushing personal boundaries and discovering the potential for a more expressive, unique voice. 
This workshop is not so much about the final product as it is about observing and seeing in a new, fresh way, and learning to connect the eye and brain to the hand, and ultimately to one's heart. This workshops is about freeing ourselves from our own judgement and cultivating trust in our ability to successfully express our creative voice. 

​Some drawing experience is required.