Big Bear Zentangle Retreat in Southern California
Instructor: Sharla R. Hicks artist, author of Tangle Inspired Botanicals, Certified Zentangle Teacher, Mentor
SMALL CLASS SIZE: Limited to 8-10 students for a small hands-on environment with frequent hands-on interaction and exchange of ideas between each student and Sharla.
Each student will also have 1-1 portfolio review or past and present works with Sharla
Suggestion: Sign up ASAP, retreats fill rapidly.
Suggested Attendees: Tanglers who are familiar with Zentangle wanting to personalize their own style of mark marking and want to learn more about 'how' creative thinking, visual language, and informed intuition morph foundation tangles into organic style botanicals, petals, leaves, and scapes. Learn the fundamentals of great work that incorporate color, design, composition, and enhancers.
Refund Policy:
1. Cancellation request within 90 days of retreat will be subject to a NON-refundable $250 registration fee. If earlier than 90 days prior to retreat or if space can be filled from the waiting list, a $50 admin fee will be deducted.
2. If for any unforeseen reason the class is cancelled by Sharla R. Hicks, you will be issued a full refund.
$175 2020 Optional Early Bird Workshop:
Color Exploration & Mixed-Media Monoprints
Monday to Wednesday, August 3, 4, 5, 2020
For those driving, arrive on the mountain between 1-3 pm Monday afternoon.
$1250 2020 Tangle-Inspired Botanicals Retreat dates:
Wednesday to Monday am. August 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
For those driving, arrive on the mountain arrive between 1-3 pm Wednesday afternoon, Thursday - Sunday with departure Monday am
All-Inclusive Retreat includes most Supplies (a supply list will be emailed after registration), 24-hour access to well-stocked mixed media studio. Healthy, delicious meals offering home-style cooking fare with gluten-free, vegetarian, lactose-free choices. Accommodations are in 2 cabins next to national forest land, enjoy mountain air walks and hikes, large decks, and living room for
socializing. Sleeping accommodations are in shared rooms with individual beds, and four bathrooms.
INCLUDED: 24 hours access to a well-stocked mixed media studio and eco-dyeing workstation. Evenings offer time for group sharing and independent study to create additional backgrounds using eco-dyeing, watercolor, brushos, gouache, water and acrylic inks, and paints. Independent study includes access to the printing press, gel and acrylic plates, stencils, stamps, textures, brushes, daubers, water containers, palettes, and more. Bottom line, name it, and we probably have it.
$175 Optional Early Bird Workshop with Sharla Hicks
Color Exploration & Mixed-Media Monoprints
Create One-of-Kind Tangle Ready Backgrounds
2020: August 3, 4, 5 arrive Monday between 1 to 3 pm
Essential supplies are provided in the well-stocked mixed media studio that is open 24 hours a day. Just come and enjoy a lighter suitcase.
Timeline:
- Monday afternoon settle in and prepare to drive to the dock at 3:30 pm for a boat ride on the lake followed by a buy-your-own-dinner in town.
- Return Monday evening to an introductory "Color is Not Color Until" presentation that filters and simplifies color into a few need-to-know essentials.
- Tuesday is filled with demos and hands-on exercises.
- Tuesday pm and Wednesday offer supervised independent study for a deep dive into your favorite techniques from the day before in the well-stocked mixed media studio.
- Begin your private 1-1 portfolio reviews with Sharla.
Optional Workshop Description:
You will learn how to turn complex color theory into simple, easy-to-understand vocabulary that will become your compass for color decisions in any setting, artwork, craft project, and even home decor. Rich, inspirational backgrounds will be developed layer by layer using hands-on exercises that implement the 'need to know' color essentials. Learn how to make magical, strategic color choices that accent and define the space around and within botanicals and fantasy-scapes using the visual properties of warm, cool, light, dark, grey-tones. Learn to manipulate the opaque and transparent properties of paint. Explore acrylic, watercolor, gouache, brushos, and alcohol inks on a wide variety of paper types.
Forage for weeds and reeds, foliage, and textures to create an embossed monoprint when run through the printing press. Experiment with gel plates to develop a background that will become the visual guide for serendipity design using informed intuition.
$1250 ALL-Inclusive Tangle-Inspired Botanicals Retreat: Dancing with Petals & Leaves
Arrive after 1 pm on Wednesday
(NOTE: Find at the bottom the airline arrival & departure recommendations & shuttle service)
4 pm to 9 pm Wednesday Afternoon:
Introduction to Eco-dying, welcome dinner, and show & share.
Instruction days: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Monday Departure: after breakfast
tangle enhanced eco-dyed background
Retreat Includes a 45-minute private one-on-one review of your work with Sharla: No need to be nervous, often the one-on-one is the highlight of your retreat with new insight and appreciation of your artwork. A small homework assignment done before you arrive to kickstarts a collaboration between you and Sharla to identifying design choices and your signature style that are the undercurrent found across your work that you may not have realize is there. This portfolio review is an opportunity to define and merge your desires, tangling, and talents with your artistic goals. Feel free to bring works for Sharla to review that may need additional help to strengthen the design, composition, color, and form.
Retreat Description: The retreat begins with an introduction to Eco dyeing using a variety of papers. Each combination of paper, bits and pieces, botanicals, and mordants creates a unique, one of a kind look with the potential to stand alone. Often, the process produces organic shapes, and forms informed by backgrounds and foregrounds with color and value variations that will inspire tangle choices, inform intuition and serendipity design. Each choice morphs into organic leaves, floras, botanicals, trees, stems, and fantasy-scapes. Learn how to add a judicious line, color, and shading enhancements.
experiment on different color backgrounds using color, and shading
Sharla introduces the fundamental components found in many tangles that easily evolve and morph into botanicals that will introduce how simple lines, C & S curves, dots, circles, expressive lines, and repetitive patterning become the foundational tools to personalize your work as you define and refine your own sensibilities and style of organics.
Slide presentations, demos projected onto a large screen, hands-on exercises, paired with small class size create frequent student to teacher interaction as you explore 'how' enhancers, framers, textures, shade, shadow, color become the backbone of strong design and composition.
Exercises and instruction simplify the color essentials needed to make pens and shading choices using graphite, pastel pencils, color pencils, and color pens to develop a well-balanced piece using value, warm, cool, light, dark, greyed choices that sing together when making the correct magical, yet very strategic, color choices.
You will leave with a large handout for additional guidance at home, a sketchbook that will become your reference bible, completed works, and an extensive set of mixed media and eco-dyed backgrounds for additional play at home. Join a private (3) month membership in Facebook 2020 Retreat group offers continued mentoring by Sharla and other members of your class.
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Flying in?
$50 round-trip shuttle service for those flying into Ontario, CA (ONT) offered.
It is a 1.5-hour drive up the mountain to Big Bear.
Pickup: ONT Flight, please arrive by 11:30 am
for both Optional Class Monday or Retreat Wednesday
Return dropoff for ONT Flight: Please make your departure 2:30 pm or later. It is BEST to schedule the return flight after 2:30 pm to accommodate the 1.5 hours drive down the mountain plus the arrive at the airport 2 hours early recommendation.
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What Students are saying about the Tangle-Inspired Botanical Retreats
Kathy Dudek, CZT: I was fortunate to sign up for the retreat with Sharla. It was amazing, from 9 or 10 in the morning til 9 or 10 at night. The only thing we really had to bring were our pens. If you get the chance to take her botanical series, you should sign up immediately. I grew so much in my tangling, the gourmet meals were incredible, and the sharing was so wonderful. This retreat was of the highest quality, and I've attended 18 years of retreats both in tangling and also polymer clay. My husband (a CZT too) and I plan to attend next year. Sharla put her heart and soul to make this a grand event. Ps her husband and Diana (a CZT chef) outdid themselves. Many, many thanks.
Jan Brandt, CZT: I whole-heartedly recommend this fabulous retreat! I attended last year and was thrilled with the variety of exciting hands-on opportunities to expand my world of creative experiences. Sharla is a generous and passionate teacher as well as a gentle, thoughtful mentor. Attend if you can!
Pat Mathes, CZT: Sharla Hicks has been an inspiration to me since I first took a class from her on Mooka Blues at Tangle University 2015. Her style was a fascination to me. I had the opportunity to participate in one of her retreats in Wisconsin . This was one of the greatest experiences I have had. Sharla openly shares her work and techniques. Very hands-on training. Intense work in technique, color, style . . . one of the best things is she doesn't stop after the retreat. She remains open to questions and advice afterwards. It was the best thing I ever did to further my artistic endeavors.