Drawing Basics with Margery

Gesture of a pear

What makes that apple look so good? The color? Sure, but perhaps the shape—the gesture. Learn to translate that fruitful taste into a drawing filled with weighted, curved, and hatched lines. And don’t worry if you don’t know what hatched or cross-hatched lines are, Drawing Basics with Margery Theroux will teach you.

The Art School at Old Church, in Demarest, is a community hub for students of all ages to learn and to flourish in all different mediums from painting to ceramics to photography.  The school offers over 90 classes that take place in the morning, afternoon, night and weekends for a period of 10 weeks. We provide workshops on the weekends in glass bead making and figure drawing, and if you’re feeling mindful, take a weekly yoga class on Thursday mornings!

Whether you are new to drawing or in need of a refresher, you won’t be lost in this class!

With different still life set up weekly, Margery begins class with handouts and demonstrations of different drawing skills. With encouraging words of advice, she shows you step-by-step how to contour or shade the objects she set up in the middle of the room (last week, it was a selection of fruit). She dictates what she sees as she demonstrates: "A luscious apple with high shoulders and a narrow bottom or a pear with a bent body."

Stippling of an apple

The three-hour class will fly by as Margery provides individual attention. Going from stippling to shading, after a while, you might even get lost in the moment and forget that you’re drawing a piece of fruit. Before you know it, you will have learned the basics and can practice anywhere with anything. 

So, bite in! Start with a delicious apple then work your way toward an entire fruit basket, and graduate to figures.

Registration is now open and Fall courses begin on September 6. Come join and register for a class today by mail, fax, hand delivery or over the phone.  Call 201-767-7160 for a printed catalog or visit www.tasoc.org. 

About The Art School at Old Church

The Art School at Old Church is a non-profit cultural resource center providing community access to enriching experiences in the arts.  The school offers over 90 art classes and workshops for adults, teens and children each semester, as well as free gallery art exhibitions, cultural events, and outreach programs for special populations.  The Art School’s programs are made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as contributions from foundations, corporations, businesses and individuals.

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Duets: Karen Snyder-Kadish and Seung Lan Whang

Karen Snyder-Kadish
Large Dragonfly Mug

The Café Gallery at the Art School at Old Church is pleased to present Duets: Karen Snyder-Kadish & Sueng Lan Whang. This is an exhibition of local artists displaying their most recent work in painting and pottery. Both Karen and Seung are members of the Art School at Old Church community and have come together for a show highlighting their progress as students and artists. Duets: Karen Snyder-Kadish and Seung Lan Whang will be on view in the Café Gallery through April 12^th.

Karen Snyder-Kadish
Pat the Bunny

Karen Snyder-Kadish (NORWOOD, NJ) is a full time artist specializing in pottery. Snyder-Kadish studied painting and ceramics at the California College of Arts and Craft, Parsons and the Art School at Old Church. Much of her works are functional pieces full of whimsy and color. Her work is influenced by her love of nature and animals. She is currently teaching art classes to survivors of domestic violence at The Center For Hope and Safety. Karen is also the proud owner of Pit Bull Pottery, where proceeds from her sales are donated to animal rescue facilities. Her work has been shown at the Rockland Center for The Arts, The Art School at Old Church and the Norwood Public Library.

Seung Lan Whang
Seashells

Seung Lan Whang
Fisherman's House

Seung Lan Whang (CLIFFSIDE PARK, NJ) is an amateur artist from Korea. Whang has always had a strong interest in art making but has only been able to receive training in the last few years to develop her talent. She has been a member at the Art School at Old Church for five years. The work displayed in the exhibit is a series of painting that have been made in class under the teaching of Ursula Schneider. Seung’s paintings express harmony by simplifying the forms of the subject matters as well as the color combinations.

Duets: Karen Snyder-Kadish and Seung Lan Whang will be on view from March 23 to April 12 in the Café Gallery at the Art School at Old Church. 

Along The Line

The Café Gallery at the Art School at Old Church is pleased to have presented Along The Line, a duet exhibition that showcased work from local artists Karen Stern and Sarah Camille Wilson. Their most recent work in pottery was on display. Both Karen and Sarah are members of the Art School at Old Church community and have come together for an exhibition that highlights both the sculptural form and functionality in pottery. Along The Line was on view at the Café Gallery from July 9th through August 4th.

Face cup, Karen Stern

Karen Stern (ENGLEWOOD, NJ) is a part-time potter and a full-time clay enthusiast under the alias Dangerous Pottery. Stern has been making and collecting pottery for 10 years. Focusing on functional ceramics, Karen incorporates line work and form to create delicate details and handsome pottery.  She works from her home studio and in the ceramics studio at the Art School at Old Church, one of the few local art schools to offer pottery. She has also studied at Penland School of Crafts in Penland, NC. Her pottery has been exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Today, her work can be seen at Market House in Westwood, NJ, The Noyes Museum of Art in Oceanville, NJ, and at local craft shows and farmers markets in Bergen County. To see more of Karen's work, check out her Facebook page Dangerous Pottery . 

Vase, Sarah Camille Wilson

Sarah Camille Wilson (TEANECK, NJ) holds a BFA in ceramics from Maine College of Art and an MFA in ceramics from Syracuse University. Wilson teaches ceramics at the 92nd Street Y, Brick House Ceramic Art Center, and at the Art School at Old Church. While working in both sculptural and functional form, Wilson seeks a balance between beauty and ugliness in her work. She spotlights the textures and surfaces of the materials as they play an important role in each final piece.  She was the 2014 Teaching Artist in Residence at Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry, India. She has been an artist in residence at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, where she was the recipient of the Kiln God Fellowship, and at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China. View Sarah's website for more information about her pottery www.sarahcamillewilson.com.

Sarah Camille Wilson

Sarah Camille Wilson

Karen Stern 

The Café Gallery is open Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM-5:30 PM, please call for evening and weekend hours. 

Draw Yourself In: 2014

August 4 - August 23, 2014

Over the summer, the Mikhail Zakin Gallery hosted a collaborative drawing project that invited the community to draw on the gallery walls... On mural-sized paper, that is. The theme of the project was portraiture, and we invited artists young and old to add a portrait and "draw themselves in" to this community project.

The project took place over the course of the two-week BLAST! of art program for kids. We received many enthusiastic contributions from the young artists enrolled in these summer classes. Below is the description of the project that was posted on the wall:

"Portraits: A portrait is a painted, drawn, photographic, or sculptural representation of a person. The key is to define the likeness, personality and mood of the person. We challenge you to draw a portrait of yourself, your mom or dad, maybe even make a new friend and draw their portrait. Draw just thier face or draw them in a scene. Give them crazy hair and colorful clothes.You are the artist, so be as imaginative and creative as you would like. Use these famous portraits as guides for your own work. But most importantly, have fun!"

 

Thank you for all the wonderful contributions!

Cafe Gallery: Chinese Brush Painting, Students of Jane Chang

The Art School at Old Church in Demarest, NJ is pleased to present an exhibition of student work in the Café Gallery, on view through May 9^th 2014. Chinese Brush Painting: Students of Jane Chang is a group exhibition of Chinese brush paintings. Participating students have one semester of experience while others have studied this art for six years or more.  

Barbara Landberg, Blue Abstract , 2014

In this class, students are taught every aspect of Chinese brush painting from the techniques of smooth brush strokes and delicate movements to the history of this thousand year old tradition. While beginners start with brushwork in flowers, birds, and other animals, intermediate and advanced students explore their craft with landscape and abstraction. Capturing both the imagery and color is an important part of Chinese brush painting; learning the spirit and rhythm of the subject matter as well as finding your Chi is equally important. Artist Gisela Zerykier has been a student of Ms. Chang’s for six years and says that learning how to use the inks with their gradations of color and intensities was an important skill to master.  Beginner Maryanne Nealon has not taken a painting class before and says she enjoyed learning how to use the various unique brushes.

Gisela Zerykier, Water Horses, 2013

The artists in this exhibition include Amy Dudash Robinson,

Marge Kirschenbaum, Barbara Landberg, Maryanne Nealon,

Barbara Potack, Robin Robinson, Toni Semar, 

Sam Visvikis, and Gisela Zerykier. 

Chinese Brush Painting: Students of Jane Chang

is on view through May 9^th, 2014 Stop by the Cafe Gallery

to check it out!