Open Studio
Instructor: Fran Sutherland
Whether your style is object accurate realism or non-objective abstraction with just the pure elements of design, participate in an open studio with Fran. During each session, Fran will be available for consultations relating to your work. She will discuss how one’s media and substrate relate to their subject and/or idea. As a lifelong teacher who has worked in all media, Fran enjoys facilitating people’s artistic journey, whether they are a relatively new painter, developing a work in process, investigating a new media, or want to learn how to develop a theme in a body of work. In this series of sessions, students will work on their specific objective while sharing the creative process with other participants.
“Feeling and seeing art subjects and ideas as personalized” summarizes Fran’s approach to creativity. Throughout the workshop students will receive individual instruction and guidance. At the end of each session, Fran will conduct a group critique of each students work while providing guidelines for them to evaluate their own work in the future.
Fran Sutherland, a native New Yorker, is a classically trained painter and educator who developed an art curriculum that coordinated with global students. She has taught watercolor, acrylic, oils, mixed media, in addition to photography, silk screening, and encaustics. Fran’s creative paintings synthesize both Eastern and Western formats in multi-media works. Her teaching objective is to show how the chosen media and techniques express personal ideas.
An award-winning artist and teacher, Fran Sutherland earned her BS and MS degrees at the State University of New York at New Paltz, NY. She is a member of the Arts Society of Kingston (ASK) Kingston, NY, Woodstock Art Association and Museum (WAAM), Woodstock, NY, Tubac Center of the Arts, and the Santa Rita Art League (SRAL), Green Valley, AZ. View works by Fran at Fran Sutherland.
Dates: Wednesday, November 18, December 2, 9, 16, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Harry and Ann Paxton Gallery at CPAC
Fee: $270
Registration Cut-off Date: November 11, 2026
Supplies List: Students will supply the materials for each of their projects
Click here to review CPAC’s registration procedure.
Click here to register on-line.
Bookmaking Extravaganza
Instructor: Susan Ettl
Join Susan in learning about the plethora of bookmaking techniques, from simple accordion folded books, glued tabs to an abondance of stitched bindings (Western and Eastern styles). In this workshop, students will learn about the parts of books; how to fold papers and stack them to form signatures, how to cover a book with paper or fabric, how to make book fabric, what needles and threads to use for sewn bindings, how to repurpose an old book, and more. Susan will discuss how to make an assortment of books, such as personal, art, nature, and junk journals, plus sketches, celebration, memory, and travel books.
Various techniques for decorating book pages including eco dyeing, stamping, stenciling, and creating a background using acrylic inks will be addressed. A variety of embellishments such as decorating spines, making different types of pockets, page inserts, etc., will be demonstrated. Students will even make a book entirely of recycled envelopes! Come join in the fun!
Susan Ettl is an artist and instructor who creates vibrant collages, paintings and books, which focus on the interplay of color and texture produced by layering paints and paper. Her work has a primordial essence which speaks of an eternal universality influenced by her travels in Europe, Mexico, and Central America. Susan has taught art workshops for both adults and children. She encourages her students to create their own images to use in their work. She continues her art education by studying with local, national and international instructors. The courses she took in 2021 have inspired her process to be more joyful and intuitive. View works by Susan at https://www.instagram.com/SusanEttlArt/.
Dates: Wednesday, January 20, 27, Feb 3, 10, 17, 24, 2027
Time: 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: Harry and Ann Paxton Gallery at CPAC
Fee: $285. which includes Special Supplies (Fabric, beads, an assortment of papers, inks, and more)
Registration Cut-off Date: January 13, 2027
Supplies List: Will be available soon.
Click here to review CPAC’s registration procedure.
Click here to register on-line.
Underpainting for Success in Oil Painting
For Beginning & Intermediate Artists
Instructor: Leslie Berry
A new approach this March 2027 – the workshop will be held over 4 weekly 3-hour sessions allowing us to experience the many benefits of the classic oil painting technique of underpainting. Learn to establish accurate values with a single color, and create a well-developed composition before the addition of color. This is a set-up for success whether the subject is a landscape, portrait or still life curated from your own photos (or chosen from those I will have on hand).
We’ll incorporate the use of tools, materials and a basic color palette throughout. Please come prepared with materials from the supply list.
Leslie Berry, a student of artist Wayne Thiebaud, received her BA in Art Studio from the University of California, Davis. She was influenced by his work in figurative painting and contribution to Pop Art. Leslie was also a student and admirer of the work and teachings of Christopher Schink, “Mastering Color and Design in Watercolor.”
Leslie embarked on an art career as a graphic designer/illustrator in California. While in Ventura, California she began exhibiting works in watercolor through a fine artists’ cooperative. In recent years her focus has been on painting in oil – landscapes “en plein air” as well as in-studio, portraits of people and pets, and still life. “I’m excited to share my experience and insight as an artist with any and all who seek to express themselves through art.”
Dates: Wednesday, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 2027
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Harry and Ann Paxton Gallery at CPAC
Fee: $260
Registration Cut-off Date: February 24, 2027
Supplies List: Will be available soon.
Click here to review CPAC’s registration procedure.
Click here to register on-line.