Carol Dalton
Sunday, March 9, 2025
10:00 am to 4:00 pm (30-minute lunch break)
$195 non-member/ $180 member
$10 materials fee paid directly to the instructor
Location: Arts Benicia Annex, 991 Tyler Street, Suite 116, Benicia
Level: All levels
Age minimum: 18
Minimum 6 | Maximum 10
Class description: Whether as an end in itself, or as a way to prepare for working larger, working small opens up visual mysteries and emotions that extreme contrasts of scale can evoke. By design a small work can appear deceptively monumental. Small works can be powerful, profound, intimate, poetic and gem-like. I believe that working small is a fundamentally important experience for seasoned artists as well as beginners. Working small, the artist encounters scale not only as a principal design element but also as a provocation. Working small is a meditative, imaginative practice. The process-with materials close at hand-unfailingly gets me going when I’m stuck and inspires me with confidence when working at a larger scale. In this workshop, using paper as a base, we will work abstractly in a spontaneous process assembling collages whose outer dimensions will range from two to eight inches. Selecting materials and orchestrating their relations to build a design is key to creating a unique work of art. Techniques to be explored include: preparing a “ground” by layering fragments of paper: painting and/or drawing to enrich the design: and repurposing discarded works by disassembling them for puzzling “old” material into a new image.
Most supplies will be provided, including heavy watercolor paper to be used as a base, decorative and various other papers, glue, paints, brushes and drawing materials.*Students who wish to make cards out of their collages will be provided with watercolor postcards, and another option will be to mount papers on wood panels. You are encouraged to bring your special, personal paper fragments, notes, letters, and any other materials you may want to integrate into your design.
Upon checkout select the appropriate Arts Benicia member or non-member rate.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Carol Dalton grew up in Southern California. She explored ocean life and the coastal foothills before enrolling in The Santa Barbara Art Institute, a part of Brooks Institute. Majoring in painting from 1971-1974 and receiving several scholarships, she also studied printmaking and ceramics. Her exposure to nature has had a lasting effect on the artist. Her work has become more nuanced over time reflecting her quiet yet emotional connection to the environment. Natural colors, patterns, reflections, and texture inform her work. Carol builds up her paintings on wood panels with layers of paper and water-based paints, scraping, sanding, and marking until distilled with a powerful presence. Dalton has been exhibiting for over thirty years in Bay Area galleries, and is currently represented by Stewart Kummer Gallery in California, and in Santa Fe, Jen Tough Gallery. She has work included in the Crocker Art Museum, the Monterey Art Museum, and corporate collections including Kaiser Permanente. Carol’s work is included in many private collections, locally and abroad. In addition to exhibiting her artwork, Carol has taught workshops focusing on “Working Small,” one of her specialties, and has juried exhibits for Jen Tough Gallery and Arts Benicia.
Instructor Website: www.caroldaltonart.com