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Nature Journaling Class – April 2011

Girls study a bug with a magnifying glass

Girls study a bug with a magnifying glass

Four Saturdays in April  (2nd, 9th, 16th, 30th, no class on the 23rd) Time: 1 – 3 pm

At the Burchfield Nature and Art Center in West Seneca, NY.

Explore nature as we work indoors and out when the weather is nice, from real subjects and photos. Share my field sketchbooks from England and New York. Learn how to make your own easy field sketch journal! Learn ‘drawing from life’ techniques that will help you next time you are out in nature and want to capture something on paper. Work in your  field sketchbook using real nature objects as we learn how to draw and paint them. Learn how to use pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolor in creative ways to embellish your sketchbook pages. Adults and mature young students are welcome. We will sketch and learn in the park if weather permits.

"Springtime Path in the Maze" watercolor crayon + wax crayon

"Springtime Path in the Maze" watercolor crayon + wax crayon

$75 for 4 classes, a $6 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the cost of various papers and a water brush to keep.
•This class follows the Creative Journaling class also offered on Saturdays. Both would compliment each other.  If taken together get a $5 discount on each.
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact me with any questions. For your convenience several varieties of water brushes will be available in class to purchase.
•Read more about my sketching adventures in England and New York here on the blog, click on categories in right column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.

Me drawing and writing in my journal along the coast of England

To register for class go to http://www.burchfieldnac.org/Spring_Classes.html to download form.

Phone: 716-677-4843  or  www.burchfieldnac.org

Painting an "Angle Shades" moth from life

Adult student comparing sketch to a flower.

Studies of Grey Heron

Studies of Grey Heron

I hope you join us, it’s going to be great fun!

“Nature Sketching and Painting” Class – March 2011

"Field at Long Lane Farm" watercolor

Saturdays in March (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th) Time: 1 – 3 pm

Explore nature as we work indoors from real subjects and photos. Share my field sketchbooks from England and New York. Learn ‘drawing from life’ techniques that will help you next time you are out in nature and want to capture something on paper. Work in your field sketchbook using real nature objects as we learn how to draw and paint them. Learn how to use pencil, color pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolor in creative ways to embellish your sketchbook pages. Adults and mature young students are welcome. We will occasionally sketch and learn in the park if weather permits.

Students drawing near the creek on a nice day

$75 for 4 classes, a $6 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the cost of various papers and a water brush.

•If you sign up for the second Nature Sketching class now there will be a $5 discount for each class, We’ll continue our studies in April, learning more about painting and drawing, spending more time in the park as weather permits.
•This class follows the Creative Journaling class also offered on Saturdays. Both would compliment each other.  If taken together get a $5 discount on each.
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact me with any questions. For your convenience several varieties of water brushes will be available in class to purchase.
•Read more about my sketching adventures in England and New York here on the blog, click on categories in right column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.

To register for class go to http://www.burchfieldnac.org/Spring_Classes.html to download form.

Phone: 716-677-4843  or  www.burchfieldnac.org

Painting an "Angle Shades" moth from life

Garden Snail, England

sketching the moth

Sketching a brown moth one morning before breakfast

“Creative Journaling” Class – March 2011

Me drawing and writing in my journal along the coast of England

Meeting each Saturday in March (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th) 10 am – 12 noon

Get Creative with Journaling! A class for all ages. We’ll combine sketching, painting and writing with experienced guidance from our instructor to create a journal of experiences and special days. Learn drawing skills, how to add decorative borders, creative designs and lettering to your journal. Learn creative writing tips; dabble in poetry writing and techniques for creating a very personal record. You’ll also be introduced to the use of watercolor pencils, watercolors, permanent ink pens, and water brushes to create images and illustrations to share. We’ll even make our own all media journal! Creative Journaling is becoming increasingly popular; it complements internet blogs or conventional diaries and provides a highly visual and descriptive book to treasure for years to come.

$75 for 4 classes, a $6 materials fee payable to the instructor the first day covers the cost of a journal and water brush.

•Following this class (after a lunch break) is “Nature Sketching”, a two-hour class that ties in beautifully with Creative Journaling. Sign up for both and save $5 on both classes!
•Sign up now for a second Creative Journaling class in April with another version of the journal, learn more ways to enhance it and make a feather pen and save $5 on each class!
•A complete materials list will be emailed to you after registering. Contact Mary with any questions.
•Read more on my blog about my sketching adventures in England and New York, just click links in the right hand column. You can sign your email to receive automatic updates when there are new posts.

To register for class go to http://www.burchfieldnac.org/Spring_Classes.html to download form.

Phone: 716-677-4843  or  www.burchfieldnac.org

Learn how to sketch biuldings.

Drawing a window and creative borders on my journal page in Alnwick, England

“Spring 2009 Nature Sketching and Painting Classes”

photo courtesy of John Rusak-Clarence Bee News, teaching at the Burchfield Nature and Art Center Spring 2008, 5th grade class

Indoor and Field Classes

Join Naturalist Artist guide Mary McAndrew in sketching, painting and experiencing nature through art.
Mary McAndrew (716) 741-4544 mary@marymcandrew.com
Free talk and intro lesson! April 4, 2009 1pm
For full article go to this entry: http://marymcandrew.blogspot.com/2009/04/free-talk-and-demonstration-on-nature.html

Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama, NY

Mary McAndrew, naturalist artist guide, will be giving a FREE introductory talk and lesson on “Nature Sketching in the Field” at the Iroquis National Wildlife Refuge. Please bring a sketch pad and pencils; the time of the program is 1pm at the refuge visitors center 1101 Casey Road. To read more about the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge visit their website: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/iroquois/ mary@marymcandrew.com

My students trying watercolors for the first time, it was so much fun!


Nature Sketching and Painting Classes

Indoor or Field Classes

Join Naturalist Artist guide Mary McAndrew in sketching, painting and experiencing nature through art.

Mary McAndrew (716) 741-4544 mary@marymcandrew.com

Come explore nature with me as we work indoors or out from real nature subjects and photos. Whether it’s a weekly class or one day workshop we’ll learn drawing from life techniques that will improve your artistic skills in the field and how to draw from photos in the studio. We’ll learn how to identify subjects in nature and how to draw them. We’ll learn foundation drawing skills and how to use pencil, color pencil, watercolor pencil and watercolors. I’ll also introduce NEW materials on the market (water soluble graphite and the waterbrush) and how to use them. This is a fun class that will teach you how to capture nature on paper and help bring your skills to a new level.

I can offer my class to your group, whether it’s school children or retirement homes, everyone loves my classes and has a good time learning! Please call me if you’d like to talk about the possibilities of what we can arrange.

What we’ll do in class:

  • Create your own Nature Journal (mostly for field classes but we can do this for indoor class also).
  • Create your own Art Kit.
  • Work with pencil, color pencil, watercolor, watercolor pencil, ink, watersoluble graphite.
  • Learn how to do studies of plants, flowers, birds, leaves, trees, clouds, bugs…you name it!
  • Identify local wildflowers, plants, birds, trees and more from our sketches using field guides.
  • Introduction to landscape drawing and painting
  • Learn basic drawing skills– value, shape, texture, gesture, shadow and light
  • Learn how to see “Simple Shapes” + use “Comparative Measurements”.

my email: mary@marymcandrew.com

Adults and Children Welcome in ALL my classes!!

email me to inquire, I’d love to talk to you about our next adventure!

Mary

The Burchfield Nature and Art Center Open House 3-28-08

(I’m posting this late because of the car accident)
This is the Open House of the Burchfield Nature Center where I’ll be teaching Nature Sketching (for kids and adults), plein air Landscape Painting (oils), and a Fairy class if we can squeeze it in! It’s a gorgeous gallery and many acres of grounds to walk on and discover, located right outside the city of Buffalo, nestled alongside the Buffalo Creek.

Each teacher had an area to display their work, I brought some oil landscapes, watercolor birds, and a few of my Goddess oil paintings to show how I combine my love of nature and mythology. I brought my field bag and actual supplies to show people who were interested. People were very curious and loved being able to look in my sketchbook, like a glimpes into someone’s personal world. Well it ‘IS’ a glimpse into my personal world, parts of it! Every page I’ve shared here on my blog they were able to look at in person, it was great. Three times during the night, new student sign up sheets had to be printed for my Nature Sketching class!! Wow, looks like I’ll be busy!


Some guests and friends checking out my display, (me talking with my hands as usual!), Dave, an old friend from college, Ken Morgan and Gene Witkowski, some of my photographer friends. And a picture of me and Cy Alessi ,
from “Art Voice” magazine.
The last photo I’m talking to an interested student, sharing my sketchbook with her.
Check out the website for the Burchfield and view the grounds, classes etc. I’ll post pictures as I teach and explore the grounds myself.