Drawing & Painting Workshops
2022 Workshop Season Update:
Touchstone is again offering a modified workshop season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Please review our COVID-19 policy* and our cancellation policy* prior to registering for any workshop.
*Subject to change, check back for up-to-date information. Registered participants will be notified of any changes.
Weekend Workshops: AUG 27 through SEPT 26
SEP 3-4 | 2-DAY (SAT-SUN)
Learning to See as an Artist
Instructor: Ron Donoughe
Intermediate
$320 Member | $350 Non-Member
$15-$45 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Seeing as an artist is the foundation of outdoor painting. This workshop will start with morning demonstrations, followed by individual instructor time with each student, where Ron will offer helpful insights along the way. Composition, color mixing, brushwork, and value will be addressed.
Ron Donoughe, a full-time professional artist, has been painting the Western Pennsylvania landscape for nearly 30 years. He is a distinguished alumnus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. His paintings can be found in the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh. His book, 90 Pittsburgh Neighborhoods, was published in 2015. The Heinz History Center acquired his 90 neighborhoods paintings as a permanent collection.
Website: donoughe.com
Instagram: @rdonoughe
SEP 10-12 | 3-DAY (SAT-MON)
CAD for Craft
Instructor: Brian Ferrell
All Levels
$445 Member | $475 Non-Member
$25-$55 Materials and Studio Fees
Please check back for Materials List
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Demystify the process of designing in CAD. Participants will learn to navigate the user interface for Autodesk Fusion 360, and Ultimaker Cura. We will design objects and 3D print prototypes that could be used for slipcasting (clay) or investing (jewelry). Basic vessel and jewelry design processes will be covered.
Brian Ferrell is an artist who creates sculpture in functional forms, designing one-of-a-kind furniture and custom tableware. Since 2000, his work has been regularly exhibited in group and solo exhibits on a national level, published in American Craft Magazine, and purchased by private collectors in the US and Europe. Ferrell was honored with a solo exhibition at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater during the summer of 2008 and participates in numerous group and solo exhibitions. He holds a BFA in jewelry/metals from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and an MFA from the Program in Artisanry at University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth.
Website: brianferrelldesigns.com
Instagram: @brianferrelldesigns
SEP 17-18 | 2-DAY (SAT-SUN)
Watercolor Success!
Instructor: Dean Simpson
No Experience/Beginner
$320 Member | $350 Non-Member
$15-$45 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Learn simple techniques for watercolor success! Whether you are new to painting or have struggled with watercolors in the past, you will learn to enjoy the spontaneity and magic that happens when layering transparent colors and effects in watercolor. Beginning with rough value sketches, learn to break down your subject into simple shapes that allow you to capture an object or scene using a limited palette and just a few brushstrokes. We’ll explore different techniques using washes, brushwork, texture and masking, while learning to control the fluidity of watercolor paints.
Dean Simpson is a creative artist and arts marketer. A lifelong learner, Dean studied Fine Arts at Indiana University of PA; Visual Communication at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh; Painting and Art History in Pavia, Italy; and holds a Master of Arts degree in Communication Technology from Point Park University. Throughout his career, he has worked in a variety of traditional and digital artistic disciplines. Dean is the Marketing Manager at Touchstone Center for Crafts.
Website: deanjsimpson.com
Instagram: @deanjsimpson
SEP 24-26 | 3-DAY (SAT-MON)
Acrylic Adventures
Instructor: Carolyn Pierotti
All Levels
$445 Member | $475 Non-Member
$40-$90 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Experimentation is encouraged in this acrylics workshop! We will be practicing in the style of the expressionist and fauvist. This artistic style will ask you to depict not objective reality, but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person. We will be experimenting with brushwork and saturated colors while working toward a distortion and abstraction of the image. This workshop is for those who want to push the boundaries of traditional portraiture. Prior painting experience, understanding the basic concepts of value, and drawing the face and/or body will be helpful for this class.
Carolyn Pierotti is a practicing and exhibiting artist in the Pittsburgh, PA area. She is graduate of Carlow University, where she received her BA with a specialization in painting. She was the former curator/events coordinator at Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Owner and Director of Percolate Gallery, Exhibitions Chair/VP of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists, and is currently the owner of Purple Room Fine Art LLC. She has coordinated and curated several exhibitions in different galleries in and around the Pittsburgh area, including the Pittsburgh Society of Artists exhibit "Intr(Au)spective." Her work has been shown at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, BoxHeart Gallery, Panza Gallery, Brewhouse Associate for Group A, and MWFA Gallery.
Website: purplepierotti.com
Instagram: @purple_room_fine_art
Touchstone Center for Crafts prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or association preference. Touchstone Center for Crafts also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to its facilities and programming.
(724) 329-1370
All workshop participants must be 18 years or older except where indicated.
Workshops are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Many fill quickly and have wait lists months in advance – don’t wait to register! Registrations for onsite workshops should be made no later than 15 days ahead of the workshop start date so that we can count you when making workshop determinations, ordering materials, etc. Touchstone’s onsite workshop determinations are made 14 days in advance of their scheduled start dates, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time. Virtual workshop registrations should be made at least 8 days ahead of the session as determinations are made 7 days in advance of the scheduled start time, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time.
A processing fee of $15 will be added to 1-5 day onsite workshops and community wood firings.
Nonrefundable COVID-19 fees are charged to each participant per onsite workshop: $20/5-day workshop, $15/3-day workshop, and $10/1- & 2-day workshops. These fees help to offset the additional and increased expenses to Touchstone for cleaning, sanitizing, PPE, disposables, and other costs directly related to ensuring health and safety for all. This fee is nonrefundable.
To view a full listing of the Terms and Conditions as part of your enrollment, download the 2022 Participant Guide.
Previous Drawing & Painting Workshops
Weeklong Workshops: JUNE 20 - AUGUST 19
JUL 11-15| 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | EDUCATORS' RETREAT
Confident Watercolors in 5 Days
Instructor: Marita Hines
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$15-$45 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
This 5-day workshop will breathe freshness and light into your watercolors. Marita Hines is a seasoned painter who believes the key to any good painting is in the planning process. She will demonstrate how to create an easy value study, something that she frequently uses to evaluate composition and light. From planning to washes to final touches, this workshop is full of practical tips about how to work with a difficult medium. Artists will gain skills for creating art that looks simplified and effortless.
Marita Hines has practiced her art from an early age. She was able to retire from her desk job at the age of 60 and has become immersed in her art ever since. Marita owns a gallery and studio space in Marietta, PA, runs a plein air group and started a group called Marietta Art Alive, with other artists whose goal is to bring the arts to the river towns where she resides. Jurors frequently comment on Marita’s “traditional” watercolor style. This insight is likely due to her ability to use the medium to its full potential. Her passion for painting en plein air has won her numerous awards regionally and she feels it has had a positive impact on her studio work as well. Marita finds the time to teach watercolors because she wants other artists to be as passionate about the medium as she is.
Website: Maritahines.com
Instagram: @maritahinesart
JUL 17-22 | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) | TEEN WEEK
Expressive Mark-Making with Charcoal: A Painter’s Approach to Drawing
Instructor: Ashley A. Jones
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
The goal for this class is for the student to develop their artistic approach with loose and aggressive mark making and combine additive and subtractive techniques using charcoal. While charcoal is the primary medium, participants are encouraged to use and experiment with other media such as Conte crayon, paint markers, powdered and water-soluble graphite, and ink. Students will also explore various alternatives to paper. The class will focus on mark-making related to abstraction, and later, students may explore different ways to apply these same techniques to observational drawing.
Ashley A. Jones is a visual artist and educator based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received a BA in studio art from Central State University in Ohio and an MFA in drawing and painting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Jones serves as an art faculty member at St. Edmund's Academy in Pittsburgh. Jones's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has numerous private and museum collections. In addition, Jones' artwork and research on identity and colorism in the African American community has been favorably reviewed and recognized in several publications.
Website: www.artbyaaj.com
Instagram: @artbyaaj
JUL 25-29 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI)
Luminous Layering of Pattern, Imprints and Color with Encaustics
Instructor: Lynda Ray
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$60-$110 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
A complex web of connections is made through the layering of patterns, colors, and marks. The transparent nature of encaustic reveals a history of the work’s development. During this workshop, you will work with transparent colors, imprinting and casting with botanical materials, stencils, and texture. You will explore lines, dots, and patterns with the stylus. Understanding the properties of encaustic is the first step to incorporating it into your own work. You’ll emerge with a range of skills to deepen the direction of your work and the confidence to create using the new abilities learned in class.
Lynda Ray received a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA, in 1987. That year, she also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, ME, where she studied under Agnes Martin. Lynda’s work is posted on the international forum Geoform.net. Her work is included in The Art of Encaustic Painting by Joanne Mattera. Since 1987, her work has been widely exhibited in the U.S. She lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.
Website: lyndarayart.com
AUG 1-5 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI) | NATURE WEEK
A Closer Look at Nature: Botanical Illustration
Instructor: Robin Menard
All Levels
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$15-$45 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
Surround yourself in art and nature as we take a closer look at the common things all around us –leaves, branches, tree bark – whatever inspires you! Botanical illustration differs from all other forms of illustration in that it involves very close observation to capture the habits, details, and color of a plant. We will work in graphite and colored pencil on paper in a step-by-step, guided approach beginning with the basics of form and tone, and moving onto color. Beginners are welcome - no experience needed! This workshop will provide ample one-on-one instruction, enabling both the beginner and experienced student to develop their own unique style and skills at their own pace. Join us and ignite your creativity and refresh your spirit!
Robin Menard shares her love of nature through her art and teaching. A lifelong artist, Robin is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She has a Certificate in Botanical Illustration from Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, where she is a core drawing instructor in their Botanical Illustration Certificate program. Robin offers workshops throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Allegheny Highlands Botanical Art Society, and the Colored Pencil Society of America.
Instagram: @robinmenardart
AUG 15-19 | 5-DAY (MON-FRI)
Encaustic and Mixed Media
Instructor: Julie Snidle
No Experience/Beginner
$620 Member | $650 Non-Member
$85-$135 Materials and Studio Fees
This workshop is no longer open for enrollment.
This workshop is designed to provide you with a thorough foundation for painting with encaustic and offer you plenty of studio time to explore its possibilities. We’ll begin with a brief history, then cover safety, tools, and materials, painting and fusing. Daily demonstrations will focus on technique and wax’s special characteristics such as opacity, temperature, adhesion, and texture. Collage, transfers, Pan Pastels, and oils are some of the techniques we’ll cover. This workshop will also cover topics related to studio set-up, framing, and presentation of work.
Julie Snidle is a self-taught artist who has focused on wax-based media since 2004. Her work has received numerous awards and can be found in private collections and public spaces throughout the U.S. Julie is a Core Instructor for R&F Handmade Paints based in New York and an Artist Ambassador for Ampersand Art Panels in Texas. She is represented by Kolman and Pryor Gallery in Minneapolis, who recently awarded her a grant for their Project Space in the summer of 2022. Julie teaches workshops locally and nationwide; she also offers private classes in her home studio in Fairhope, AL.
Website: juliesnidle.com
Instagram: @juliesnidle
(724) 329-1370
All workshop participants must be 18 years or older except where indicated.
Workshops are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Many fill quickly and have wait lists months in advance – don’t wait to register! Registrations for onsite workshops should be made no later than 15 days ahead of the workshop start date so that we can count you when making workshop determinations, ordering materials, etc. Touchstone’s onsite workshop determinations are made 14 days in advance of their scheduled start dates, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time. Virtual workshop registrations should be made at least 8 days ahead of the session as determinations are made 7 days in advance of the scheduled start time, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time.
A processing fee of $15 will be added to 1-5 day onsite workshops and community wood firings.
Nonrefundable COVID-19 fees are charged to each participant per onsite workshop: $20/5-day workshop, $15/3-day workshop, and $10/1- & 2-day workshops. These fees help to offset the additional and increased expenses to Touchstone for cleaning, sanitizing, PPE, disposables, and other costs directly related to ensuring health and safety for all. This fee is nonrefundable.
To view a full listing of the Terms and Conditions as part of your enrollment, download the 2022 Participant Guide.