This course will encourage you to explore our country’s unique geography through a variety of expressive drawing materials. Each week you will focus on a different natural feature, from rugged coastlines to vast prairies, learning techniques to capture texture, light, and atmosphere. For inspiration we will look at the work of contemporary Canadian artists who have depicted both the land and life as a Canadian. Through exercises, demonstrations, and discussions, you will develop your drawing skills while deepening your appreciation for Canada’s natural beauty. Suitable for all levels. TUESDAYS, SEP 9 - DEC 9, 2PM - 5PM IN-PERSON (Tuesday courses start one week before other courses due to two stat holidays)

In this course, students explore how paint can be used to create effects of light, and how various subjects create different kinds of visual space. Based around thematic projects, this course will cover how translucent layers of paint allow light to come from inside the painting, how glazes complicate space and the contrast of light, and how light operates in conjunction with hue and chroma to affect the illusion of visual depth. Subjects include photographs, still life, collage, and non-objective abstraction. Each project is contextualized through historic and contemporary examples. Students can work in either acrylic or oil paint. Suitable for all levels. FRIDAYS, SEP 19 - DEC 12, 10AM - 1PM ONLINE

Are you curious about how to use acrylic paints? Throughout this course you will learn the foundational processes of working with acrylic paint, such as how to mix paint, capturing light/shadow and texture, colour theory, working with medium and the application of paint to a surface. You will develop your artistic skills through various assignments and in-class exercises that include painting still life arrangements, landscapes, architecture and photographs. Suitable for all levels. TUESDAYS, SEP 9 - DEC 9, 6PM - 9PM ONLINE (Tuesday courses start one week before other courses due to two stat holidays)

This course explores the creative use of photographs as an initial inspiration for your painting compositions, themes and personal expression. Students will learn methods for selecting, editing, and finally, departing from a photograph with artistic freedom. Class presentations and assignments focus on the translation of photographic imagery into the language of painting. This course also covers issues of originality when using found images along with the various ways contemporary painters use photos to stimulate their work. Group critiques, one-on-one feedback and guidance will be provided for all painting styles. Students are welcome to use oil or acrylic paint. Some painting experience recommended. Suitable for all levels. TUESDAYS, SEP 9 - DEC 9, 10AM - 1PM ONLINE (Tuesday courses start one week before other courses due to two stat holidays)

This contemporary craft based course will offer hands-on demonstrations and assignments structured to develop skills in visible mending, felting, crochet and weaving. The class will introduce contemporary artists, current writers and thinkers working with textiles, and what it means to mend, unravel and weave in our lives and art practices. Students will be supported and challenged at their individual skill level to develop projects that combine the learnt textile techniques with conceptual content. No previous experience necessary. No previous textile experience necessary. TUESDAYS, SEP 9 - DEC 9, 6PM - 9PM IN-PERSON (Tuesday courses start one week before other courses due to two stat holidays)

This course focuses on the figure as illuminated by a survey of examples from the history of painting. As each new example presents ways to appreciate the possibilities of the figure as a subject matter, it likewise presents new technical challenges in areas such as scale, paint handling, layering and composition. Students combine direct work from a model with other sources including photographs, art historical sources and imagination. Suitable for all levels. WEDNESDAYS, SEP 17 - DEC 10, 10AM - 1PM ONLINE

This course explores the evolution of drawing during the modern art period, from the 1860s to the 1960s. Through presentations on major art movements and modern masters’ drawings, students will gain insight into the styles and ideas that shaped modern drawing. Each week includes related hands-on projects using a variety of materials and subjects, from representation to abstraction. The course culminates in a final drawing inspired by a selected historical movement or artists, encouraging both technical skill and personal expression. Suitable for all levels. THURSDAYS, SEP 18 - DEC 11, 10AM - 1PM ONLINE

Using the overarching theme of flora and fauna, this course provides a “sampler” of art materials and processes of art-making. Each class we will start by drawing a native plant or animal together that lives and grows on Lekwungen Territory. The following approaches and media will be covered over the 12-week period: drawing with pencil, pencil crayon, chalk pastels, ink, oil pastel, mixed media (combining all of these together), collage, as well as making a zine. Course includes drawing from your imagination using pastel and mixed media; layering pencil crayon to create detailed drawings of plants and animals; and using nature walks as inspiration to create a narrative in a book format. We will be looking at Kinngait artist Shuvinai Ashoona’s drawings, the exhibition Forestrial Brain by Jim Holyoak and Matt Shane, and collage artist Mary Delany, as well as other contemporary artists for inspiration. Suitable for all levels. THURSDAYS, SEP 18 - DEC 11, 6PM - 9PM IN-PERSON

This course will cover the fundamentals of painting with gouache while exploring how artists have painted the garden in the last 150 years from Monet, van Gogh, Klimt to Charles Burchfield, Ross Bleckner, Shara Hughes and others. Gouache is a water-based opaque paint that dries to a velvety surface. Unlike watercolour, gouache is very forgiving and great for the beginner artists. Discover the excitement of a new medium while learning about the ways historical and contemporary artists approach the garden as subject matter. Suitable for all levels. TUESDAYS, SEP 9 - DEC 9, 2PM - 5PM ONLINE (Tuesday courses start one week before other courses due to two stat holidays)