Master Class with Jan Baltzell: Observation Into Invention
Abstraction exists in all works of art, in the artist’s translation of subject matter. How might we then direct ourselves to stop labeling what we are looking at and think more about our drawn and painted marks within the narrative of the whole? How does color create space? What sounds do they make? What is the pace of your hand and eye? Where do you pause? How do you bridge the gaps and transition from moment to moment, brush stroke to brush stroke?
Join acclaimed artist Jan Baltzell to explore different avenues available as one moves from direct observation toward abstraction and invention. Inspiration will be sought from artists such as Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian and Richard Diebenkorn, whose work reflects a transformation from a representational approach to abstraction.
An expansive and visually stimulating still life will serve as the basis and inspiration for structure, movement, light, and color, as students explore different means of creating inventive imagery. Work in your choice of drawing, painting, or collage and mixed media. Bring what you know, as well as new materials or ideas, to push your boundaries of image-making.
View/download the Materials List (Coming Soon)
View/download the Cerulean Arts Class Registration & Policy Guide
Date: Saturday and Sunday, April 26 & 27, 2025
Time: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Fee: $395
Registr by: April 1 (Space is limited)
Jan Baltzell was born in Philadelphia, and her talents were nurtured by her mother, Jane Piper, an acclaimed American Modernist painter and student of Arthur B. Carles. She holds an MFA from Miami University, Oxford, OH, and a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), where she studied with noted painters Gretna Cambell and Larry Day. Baltzell's work is included in numerous public and private collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, and The State Museum of Pennsylvania. She has received numerous fellowships including from Hollins University, Dorland Art Colony, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center, where she also served as resident critic. As a professor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts for over 30 years she influenced generations of painters. She is represented by Schmidt Dean Gallery, Cherry Hill, NJ.