Cynthia Corbin

Composing Composition
Class Description:   5–Day Workshop
Intermediate to Advanced

For every rule about good composition, someone comes along and breaks that rule, and does it well. That is ART. That is the evolution of ART.

Is there a secret recipe out there somewhere? Maybe we’ve all got a secret recipe—and, maybe, we don’t know it… yet. Your secret recipe is the way you arrange the stuff that interests you. Doing that in a mindful/intuitive/sensitive way is the magic, and the hard work.

So about the hard work… experiment, explore, make messes, find what works, find what certainly doesn’t, break rules. Use those ideas you are keeping locked in. Really seek them out. Do any and everything that comes to mind to explore your idea (or image or feeling).

Each day in class, there will be a new set of studies to explore. You may work in whatever style interests you, and in whatever techniques you choose. From landscapes to figurative, abstract to realism, and the spaces in between, there is common ground, and a world to explore.

Class time is a positive, encouraging place to discover and discuss the nuances developing in your work.

look at my Pinterest board, Composing Composition (?).

The ABCs of Composition
Class Description:   5–Day Workshop
Intermediate to Advanced

Think about the letters of the alphabet as simple shapes. Strung together as words or simply a series of symbols, letters become fascinating abstract structures that also pull in another layer of meaning.

This class is based on my own Text Series work. Utilizing the “black fabric sketch” method of visualizing a composition, students will develop a series of pieces based on a single word or series of letters—sometimes readable, sometimes not. I provide a starting place, guidance, and encouragement, and each student takes it from there—giving voice to their own point of view.

Emerging Style
Class Description:   5–Day Workshop
Intermediate to Advanced

What is it that defines an artist’s style? I think it is a combination of the ways they like to work, the materials they like to work with, and the subject matter they are interested in. It can be influenced by the colors they prefer, the way they make a line, and probably what they had for breakfast. (I like oatmeal.) In short, style results from who we are and what we care about. And it develops over time, mostly when we are not looking.

To keep growing as an artist, it is always good to stretch the possibilities. In a series of studies, we will work with our favorites—colors, subjects, shapes—and explore their opposites. We will pay attention to what is strong in our compositions, and what is weak.

We will concentrate on translating ideas into fabric, pulling for a sense of meaning that is not obvious, not automatic, but unexpected and surprising—something that demonstrates who we are as individual artists.

Independent Studio
Class Description:   5–Day Workshop
Advanced

Whether you have the hint of an idea brewing, or a full-on series in progress, this is your time to focus on your own work.

This class is designed for those students ready for challenging, independent and focused study, as well as problem solving critique. The framework of the class provides time to work intensively, as well as time for in-depth and individual discussion about your work, your direction, and your creative process.

I believe in exploration, experimentation, and practice, practice, practice. You could also say process, process, process—however you put it, the goal is always to turn your own ideas into successful work. Join me!