Get Warm and Gather to Celebrate the Harvest Season
Autumn offers incredible colors and textures in the Pacific Northwest. In this gouache painting workshop, we’ll create small paintings and cards to celebrate the season of change and gathering. Perfect for beginners, small groups, teens and adults, this workshop includes everything you need to create a sweet spring scene!
Workshop Details DATE/ TIME: Sunday, November 19, 2:00 – 4:00 pm LOCATION: Common Fields in downtown Corvallis 545 SW 3rd St, Corvallis, OR
In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll practice with gouache, a water-soluble paint, to paint images of fall including leaves, vegetables, and critters. References, paint, paper and equipment are all included.
No painting or drawing experience needed for this laid back art-making afternoon!
Spend a lovely Spring afternoon with us at Common Fields as we paint birds and flowers with gouache. Perfect for beginners, small groups, teens and adults, this workshop includes everything you need to create a sweet spring scene!
Workshop Details DATE/ TIME: Sunday, May 14, 2:00 – 4:00 pm LOCATION: Common Fields in downtown Corvallis 545 SW 3rd St, Corvallis, OR
In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll practice with gouache, a water-soluble paint, to create small still lifes of birds and flowers. References, paint, paper and equipment are all included.
No painting or drawing experience needed for this laid back art-making afternoon!
Gouache is perfect for sweet illustrations as well as fine art painting with details. In this animal painting workshop, we’ll explore the full creative capacity of gouache to create unique small paintings with stunning color and texture. Perfect for beginners, small groups, teens and adults, this workshop includes everything you need to create a sweet spring scene!
Workshop Details DATE/ TIME: Sunday, September 10, 2:00 – 4:00 pm LOCATION: Common Fields in downtown Corvallis 545 SW 3rd St, Corvallis, OR
In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll practice with gouache, a water-soluble paint, to illustrate favorite animals of the furry, feathered, scaly, and even slimy variety. References, paint, paper and equipment are all included.
No painting or drawing experience needed for this laid back art-making afternoon!
Make a totally unique memento of the season in this 2-hour workshop where we’ll capture summer memories in gouache. Perfect for beginners, small groups, teens and adults, this workshop includes everything you need to create a sweet spring scene!
Workshop Details DATE/ TIME: Sunday, July 16, 2:00 – 4:00 pm LOCATION: Common Fields in downtown Corvallis 545 SW 3rd St, Corvallis, OR
In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll practice with gouache, a water-soluble paint, to create postcard that can be sent to your friends in far off places, or added to a memory board at home. References, paint, paper and equipment are all included.
No painting or drawing experience needed for this laid back art-making afternoon!
What’s more romantic than hanging out in the studio, hot cocoa in my thermos and paint on my hands?
For this Valentine’s day, I teamed up with The Arts Center in Corvallis to spend the evening expressing my love of crafting in a special workshop making jewelry with polymer clay!
Although it’s not my main artform, I love crafting with polymer clay. I like the feeling of being able to make something I can hold in my hand, with relatively accessible materials and equipment. For this class, we used Sculpey Premo polymer clay in various colors, acrylic paint, bakeable clay adhesive, gold foil. We also used various clay tools including rollers, styluses, and ball tools. This class was designed to be beginner-friendly, with step-by-step instruction and the goal of a completed project in 2 hours.
We started out the evening working on faux quartz charms for earrings, broaches, and necklace pendants. The process includes cutting transparent clay down and mixing it with a small amount of acrylic paint. Then we used bakeable adhesive and gold or silver foil to replicate the veins in quartz stone. We then rolled out slabs to cut or shape into desired pieces. Through the process, we got hands on with conditioning clay and using tools. The end products were really lovely!
The second half of the workshop focused on making jewelry from clay slabs, which included selecting contrasting colors, shaping pieces and then layering to create cool designs. In this process, folks got to experiment with representational pieces that evoked memories of classic jewelry elements, as well as abstract pieces that embraced the vibrant colors and textures of the clay.
This was a super fun way to spend Valentine’s evening with a group of cool folks just making stuff! Thanks so much to The Arts Center for hosting our workshop!
Want to know about other classes like this one? Follow this blog for updates!
Let’s make some fantasy landscape paintings in gouache at Common Fields!
This Fall, we’ll make dazzling, colorful and fantastical landscapes at Common Fields. Perfect for beginners, small groups, teens and adults, this workshop includes everything you need to start making fantasy landscapes with gouache!
Come join us on Monday, November 7, 2022 at 6:00 pm at Common Fields in downtown Corvallis
In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll practice with gouache, a water-soluble paint, to create illustrative landscapes to inspire stories, and fantasy. References, paint, paper and equipment are all included.
No painting or drawing experience needed for this laid back art making night!
This painting workshop is open to beginners and experienced painters, teens and adults. Registration is $25 per person All materials provided and included.
Uh-oh! This class is maxed out or has already started! Check back again for more classes from Jen Hernandez Art!
Explore the vibrant world of colored pencils in this class for all levels of artistic skill. Learn about techniques for blending colors, using solvents, and creating compositions based on references.
Practice skills that you can use to create landscapes, portraits, still life and more in this versatile medium, plus get practice in drawing skills with graphite pencil. Each week, live demonstrations will cover drawing exercises to warm up with, and then studio practice with real-time guidance and feedback.
No previous drawing experience necessary, this basics class will give you the starting ground to take off with your imagination..
Create illustrations for books, comics, cards and fine arts with inking techniques to express drama. Practice sketching, linework, stippling, shading and scumbling with one or more pens to create effects of depth and movement. This class is perfect for beginners who want to develop illustration skills or combine ink illustrations with other media like watercolor for journals.
This activity was developed for The Arts Center’s 2022 Spring Break Art Carnival. In this one project, we combine art, crafting, scientific observation, and dialogue about social and personal responsibility for waste and care of natural resources.
Using non-biodegradeable materials that would normally be thrown away, we create propagation tubs and planters for small plants, starts or seeds. Through the acticvity, we talk about what we know about plants and waste materials, what we are curious about, and what we observe about plants, the planet and single use plastic products.
The materials for this project are very accessible, especially if you’re like me and save every single plastic tub you’ve ever seen in your life. If you are having a hard time finding plastic food tubs, ask friends and family members to save theirs, or check out a nearby materials exchange organization. Here in the Willamette Valley, we have MECCA (Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts) which is legitimately one of my top 3 favorite art resorces in the world.
Planter Materials:
Plastic tubs (yogurt tubs, cottage cheese, butter, etc.) – I found an adorable tiny tub for green chiles!
Yarn, collage materials
Adhesive (white glue, mod podge, hot glue)
Awl or screwdriver for making drainage holes
basic potting soil with perlite
plant starts, seeds or ground cover/ moss
dechlorinated water (see notes below for how to do this)
Drawing Materials
Sketch paper
Pencils
clipboards
Learning outcomes
Through this activity, participants will be able to:
identify non-recyclable materials (plastic tubs) and alternative uses for those materials
to construct a planter with drain holes and understand what a plant needs to thrive (water, air, light, soil)
practice observational skills using different senses for drawing plants and observing conditions of soil
describe their observations verbally
know when to change the circumstances of a plant’s environment (more water, more light, etc.)
use different weights and types of line to depict plants
identify and label different parts of a plant
understand and recall the different stages of growth of a plant
Process & Notes
To create the planter:
Select a plastic tub to use for this project (one with a lid is best).
Clean the tub well with soap and water, and dry thoroughly.
Pierce the bottom of the tub with several holes using the awl or screwdriver. These will be drainage holes for the planter.
Drainage holes help keep the soil the right moistness. Without them, when we water our plants, the water will collect in the bottom of the tub and could rot the plant’s roots, which can kill the plant. The drainage holes also help keep the soil areated and not compacted so the plant’s roots can grow freely.
Decorate your tub! Use collage paper, yarn, paint, anything you’d like to decorate the outside of the tub. Don’t add decoration to the inside of the tub, those materials can leech into the soil and make the plant sick.
Allow your decorations to dry while you mix your soil with perlite (3:2, soil:perlite)
The perlite is a natural material that helps keel the soil airy and helps balance the water in the soil, to keep it from getting too wet and to release water when the soil is dry.
As you mix the soil and the perlite, observe the material:
with the soil in your hands, notice what it feels like: dry, damp
hold the material to your face and look closely, what do you see?
smell the material, what does it smell like?
as you mix the soil and the perlite, what does it sound like?
DO NOT taste the soil or the perlite
Place your soil and perlite into the planter when it’s dry. If you need more drying time, use the time to look at the plant starts, and make observations using your senses. You could even start drawing the plants.
When your soil and perlite are in the tub, you can add your seeds, plant starts or ground cover.
Gently place the plant or ground cover onto the top of the soil. If the start has long roots, carefully dig into the soil and place the roots gently into the soil, and then cover.
For seeds, use your finger to poke holes to the depth of about your first knuckle and place seeds into the hole. Cover with soil.
Water the soil with fresh, dechlorinated water (see notes below); use observations about the soil and the planter to know how much water to use.
when you water the soil, listen to the water run into the soil. what does it sound like?
Observation and drawing:
Hold your planter with your plant or seeds in your hands. Use your senses to observe the plant or seeds, and use words to descibe what you observe
What does the plant, soil, planter look like?
What does the plant, soil, planter smell like?
Gently feel the soil or the plant leaves, what do they feel like?
Does the plant/ seed/ soil/ or planter make a sound as you hold it?
DO NOT taste the plants, seeds, or planter
Use your pencil and paper to sketch what you’ve obsereved (using all the physical external senses, not just sight).
What kind of marks or lines do you use to depict what you have observed.
What do you notice when you look/ smell/ feel/ touch/ listen more?
What different ways can you approach your planter or the plant to observe it differently? From above, from below, from a different side, etc.
Make predictions: what do you think will happen to the plant next?
Use your plant diary in the zine to make notes. Include the date and time and write about what you notice.
Project Tips
How to dechlorinate water
The water in most taps will be treated with chlorine, in amounts that’s typically safe to drink, but can be harmful to plants. Spring water is best for plants, as it contains natural occuring nutrients that can support plant health. Distilled water is not advised for plants as it can damage plants. If tap water is your best option, you can dechlorinate water by filling a large bowl with water and allowing it to sit at room temperature for 24 – 48 hours. Since chlorine is a volitile chemical, it will dissipate from the water over those hours. I give the water a stir every few hours to make sure I can bring some water up to the surface where the chlorine can dissipate.
What plants to use
For the project at The Arts Center, I brought clippings from my own houseplants: spiderettes and persian shields, which I prepped the night before by dipping their stems into rooting hormone and placing in a holding container with some potting soil and perlite. I also brought baby’s tears, an easy-to-grow ground cover from a local nursery, and some packets of wildflower seeds.
This was a super fun activity, and my first time doing a community event like this with actually 100’s of folks over a few hours in such a long time! Some of the participants came up with clever ways to turn their planters into hanging planters, and different ways of collaging and decorating the plastic tubs. I also brought extra handbound journals to give away since I always have a bunch of those lying around, and special Plant Love stickers I designed and printed for the event!
Thanks so much to The Arts Center for inviting me to be a part of this event!
I’m taking a look back at the community art projects I led over the past year with a couple of my favorite community organizations, and I’d like to share some of my tips for planning and developing art projects for community groups.
I approach community art projects differently from my classes in schools or with small groups, although the goals are similar: access to art practices and materials, engaging creative processes and building relationships.
In the case of community arts, I focus mainly on relationship building, letting the art project be a foundation for coming together, like a family meal or celebration, but with paint! For me, this shift in focus means that I want to keep the art projects open-ended and low-risk so that participants can engage with the projects based on their own comfort and skill level and focus on relating to the others around them, sharing ideas and creating space to be together, virtually or in-person. These projects are open for any level of engagement so that if someone wants to really dig into the project, they can be there right alongside another person who just wants to sit back and observe how others work with the materials. There’s actually room for anyone in these creative spaces.
With relationship building in mind, I focus on specific elements when selecting materials and methods for community art projects:
Accessible materials – something we have in abundance or can be easily collected and shared.
Open-ended instructions – I like a project that can be done in 3 – 5 steps, maximum, with the option to build on a practice or explore materials more.
Time-investment accessibility – these projects should be something someone can do in 2 minutes, but could also spend 20 minutes or 2 hours, if they wanted.
And, since this is a relationship-building experience, I try to consider basic needs as part of the art project: how will folks arrive to the project (transportation); will there be food/ resources available for them; are the spaces physically accessible, safe and comfortable; are the instructions and plans for the project accessible (consider spoken or reading language, understanding pictorial instructions).
In 2021, I had monthly art projects between a few different groups, coordinated with a couple of local nonprofit organizations. Here are a few standouts that were really fun and some of the planning that went into them:
Pour Painting at Jackson Street Youth Services – Space for Learning Together
Community art projects are often great opportunities to experiment with new artistic practices for me. Since I focus on togetherness and exploration rather than mastery of materials or skills, I can try out practices that I don’t have a lot of experience with already and help set the tone for trying something new. This has been a way for me to learn new skills and lean into curiosity with art materials while also enjoying community building. Pour Painting/ flow acrylics was exactly that kind of experience for me. By practicing this with Jackson Street Youth Services– a local nonprofit serving youth in the community with safe shelter, case management, and community enrichment– I was able to join in with the community in experimenting and learning about an art form I’ve long been curious to try!
I did research ahead of time and tried out my own paintings before bringing materials to the group, but by the time we had our afternoon class in the summer of 2021, I had probably only made 1 or 2 paintings myself.
I knew enough to set up the project and make suggestions to the participants, but I was also able to keep back too many suggestions and allow participants to experiment freely.
Materials for Pour Painting
Flow acrylic paints in various colors
Flow acrylic medium
Small dixie cups
Stir sticks
Canvas panels of various sizes (8″x8″ and 4″x4″)
Painter’s tape
Silicone oil
Gloves
Aluminum baking trays and lids (like for a turkey)
Plastic table cover
Foam brushes
Set up & Tips
Individual spots: I set up each spot with a baking tray or lid, and showed participants how to turn dixie cups upside down to prop up their canvas panels (this allows the paint to flow down over the panel and into the tray)
Priming the canvas: The paint pours more evenly if there is a layer of wet paint on the canvas first, so I showed participants how to use the foam brushes to paint the canvases with a thick layer of paint before pouring.
Mixing flow medium with paint: I started out by showing participants how to mix the flow medium with the paints in the dixie cups, using a 3:1 ratio medium to paint (or whatever the instructions on the paints/ medium suggested).
Mixing colors: I had several different colors, including the typical blue, red, yellow, white and black. If participants wanted a color we didn’t have, I showed them how to mix paints together in the dixie cups BEFORE adding the pouring medium.
OR! Participants could mix up separate colors with pouring medium and then pour different colors+medium into one cup to create a marbled effect.
Group Painting at Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center – Opportunities to Grow in Relationship
The CMLC is a special organization to me, and one that I am quite honored to serve as a board member (at the time of this writing, I’m the new board chair). The work of this organization is about sharing educational and community resources for folks arriving to Corvallis from outside of the US. As a university town, we do tend to see a lot of international students and their families, but our organization also supports folks who are arriving to Corvallis for permanent residence and to pursue citizenship.
As I became a new board member this summer, I was in good company with other new members and staff at the organization. I wanted to get to know the people who were also invested in the organization and to also share my interests in community building through creativity by hosting a group paint session.
I set up this group paint event to focus on sharing creative space with one another, and for the opportunity to connect and talk with each other. For that reason, I specifically avoided a more standard paint with me tutorial, and instead brought a bunch of paints, canvases, brushes and music and while I made suggestions for how to approach the project, I didn’t lead the participants in creating anything specific. I simply guided us all in selecting color, brush, and putting paint onto the canvas.
This was a bit riskier for being the most loose-form project, and the lack of structure for some folks did create discomfort and confusion. But I’m not sure that I’d change any of that. In hindsight, I would prime the community more with discussion about staying present rather than focusing on what something “should” look like. This was an eye-opening experience for me and the community participants and I’m so grateful for the experience.
Materials for Group Painting
Four 6-ft tables
Chairs
Table covers
Wooden easels, offered to each participant
Acrylic paints in red, blue, yellow, black, white, gold, pink, teal, purple, plus modeling paste, glazing medium, and iridescent medium
Brushes of various sizes and shapes
Stretched and panel canvas of various sizes
Plastic tubs (like yogurt or hummus containers) for water
Pencils
Plastic-coated paper plates
Rags
Set up & Tips
The Round Table: All the tables were actually rectangular, but I set them up in ao open rectangle so folks could all see each other and chat. With our group of about 14 people, that meant three or so to a table. Outdoors and with space to move around and everyone vaccinated (and COVID infection rates low for the summer), we felt comfortable enough to take off our masks and see each other.
Setting a tone: Being outside in the shade was a nice touch, plus having music from a portable speaker that create atmosphere but didn’t compete with conversation helped create a celebratory tone, like a community meal, except with paint.
A variety of possibilities: I made some suggestions to pick colors that jumped out at folks as they surveyed their options, with the intent to encourage leaning into instinct and trusting themselves with the process. This was uncomfortable for some folks, who perhaps already felt vulnerable with art-making. As a community educator, I have the privilege to help people push their comforts and try new things, as well as help them to see possibilities in that trying.
Showcasing special materials: I did bring along modeling paste, glazing medium, and iridescent medium. Throughout the session, I introduced those separate mediums whenever someone asked about them or there had been some time for folks to settle into what they had begun to make. This meant announcing to the group that a material was available to them, and if they’d like to try it, there were a couple of ways I was familiar with the material, but they could try it out themselves. The sparkly stuff was, of course, the most popular.
Glass Painting at Jackson Street Youth Services – Observing Each Other’s Skills and Experience
Part of my volunteering with Jackson Street this year was offering enrichment activities for the mentorship program. It was a real joy for me to spend time with the mentors and mentees in this program, and get to see their relationships come together.
This faux stained glass project turned out to be a really cool way for the groups to share their interests and skills with each other. The set up was classic: basic materials and process with enough possibility that participants could dig deep into the project.
The finished pieces came out looking so cool, and there were so many instances of genuine astonishment and joy at what each person could create with dark lines and glass paint (and it makes me want to add glass paint to my personal collection for sure!)
One of the challenges of hosting monthly art sessions is to come up with enough interesting and different subjects and practices for participants. As an illustrator, sure, I could spend all day everyday drawing, and that’s great if the goal of the art practice is to develop skill and style. But in community arts, that’s emphatically NOT the goal. Focusing on skill has the chance to create a split between who’s “good” at art and everyone else, which in the best of circumstances becomes one or two people making gorgeous art and everyone else watching. The worst outcome would be some of those spectators feel discouraged about trying the project. For community arts, I want to hold space for all participants with any skill level to share their exploration with each other. This is why unique and surprising projects can be perfect, like this faux stained glass project. Although there was linework and painting involved in the process, there was enough adaptation for someone who hasn’t practiced those artistic skills to still create something unique and for those who did have that practice, to share their skills with others. It also wasn’t something anyone at the table had tried before (I did one practice the previous night), and so there was zero mastery at the table, just as I like it 🙂
Materials for Faux Stained Glass
Glass sheets (like from thrift store picture frames)
Black fabric/ puff paint
Black Sharpie
Glass paint in various colors
Paint brushes
Paper
Optional (suggested): outline drawings of flowers, mandalas, shapes printed on paper
Process
Draw a design on a piece of paper that can fit inside the area of the glass sheet, or select shapes and drawings that are printed on paper.
Place the drawing/ print under the glass.
Use the sharpie to trace the drawing or outline onto the glass.
Use the puff paint to paint the lines of the drawing. Allow to dry completely.
Use glass paint to paint inside and around the puff paint lines.
Set up & Tips
An example is worth 1000 questions: I prepped the evening before the class by creating an example at home. I also prepped some glass sheets with basic lotus and star designs with the puff paint so they would be dry and ready to paint for the class.
Note: the drying time of the puff paint was about 45 minutes, which for the 90 minute session means that participants were able to sketch out their designs and trace with puff paint and then color with the glass paint in the same session, which was cool.
Opportunities to work together: Some of the glass we had, which we took out of old picture frames from the thrift store, were various sizes, and one was quite large. For that one, the pair that used it created something together using this method, which was actually really neat to see and made a very unique keepsake for that pair.
Family Art Classes at Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center – Building Community
In an on-going collaboration with the CMLC, I’ve been hosting family classes for community members to create together at the center. As our global community continues to grapple with the effects of living during a pandemic, staying safe and building connection can feel like they are at odds.
Mediating between those choices are our obligations as community leaders and educators.
For these family art programs, I have been working alongside the CMLC program coordinator to plan for safety and health and maximum engagement. Good communication and planning has helped us successfully bring folks together.
Working closely with staff and volunteers for community projects has been essential. Together, we have covered as many possible questions and scenarios as we can to make sure we put safety and health above all. Our art projects have been a way to invite community members back into space with each other, while observing cautions for safety.
The first project we made together was decorating masks, both papier mache masks (which I had for a different project that was disrupted by COVID issues earlier in the year), and cloth face masks. This project brought us together into the center to share creative ideas and also practice healthfulness with sanitation and observing social distancing.
For our second project, we made posters and stickers, which is simple but honestly my favorite thing (yay stickers!). This second project was more focused on being together and exploring the space and opportunities the center offered.
Part of each of our activities has been to offer snacks to the young children, which is a matter of principle for me as a community educator. It’s another way for us to highlight the resources available at the CMLC. For our pandemic-friendly snacks, we offer a perusal of our packaged snack closet for kids to select from.
Materials for Mask Decorating
Papier mache masks
Cloth masks for adults and children
Fabric markers
Coloring markers (keep separate)
Glitter glue (the superior form of glitter)
Materials for Posters and Sticker making
Poster board paper
Sticker sheets (I used the kind for die cut machines)
Markers
Pencils
Glitter glue (love this stuff)
Set up & Tips
Room enough: A challenge at the CMLC is to make physical space for participants and observe social distancing. We manage this by separating participants into different rooms with the same supplies and a volunteer or staff in each room.
Keep it simple sweetie: These projects are so simple, they’re really drawing and coloring. And because of this, parents who attend the sessions with their children can chat and meet each other, which children can be imaginative and have freedom to create.
As a community arts educator, my work is focused on bringing folks together over creative projects, with an artistic perspective and methodology. I’ve learned from my experiences with organizations like The Center for Artistic Activism and Theatre of the Oppressed NYC about approaching opportunities for learning and conversation with an artistic framework, which is confronting challenges and taking on new opportunities to learn new skills and see from others’ perspectives. Looking back on the creative projects I’ve been a part of over the year, I’m struck by how naturally art and creativity became sources of community building, and our collaboration was affected by careful consideration of the particular challenges and desire for connection and growth our participants experienced.
In 2022, I’m looking forward to a new year of collaboration with these and other local and national organizations. Are you a community educator? How do you engage your community through arts and creativity? I’d love to hear about what other folks are doing to bring communities together!
