WORKSHOPS
The 2024 workshops will provide opportunities for pigment hunting, paint making, plastering, hempcrete and natural building. I'll be adding more workshops in the near future, but for now there are a diversity of workshop opportunities that are available to sign up below. So please scroll down to learn more about these opportunities and send me an email if you have any questions.
ANCESTRAL COLORSAncestral Colors workshop will be offered as a free workshop to individuals or families who have connections to the diversity of Indigenous communities of the Southwest or from other tribal nations whose roots are located in the Americas upon whose land I am blessed to call home.
This workshop will be open to individuals of all ages and families including children. I have worked with people both young and old over the years while teaching the art of pigment hunting and paint making to a diversity of cultural groups. I would be honored to host this space, provide colorful materials to create with, and share knowledge on how to process these minerals and plants into various artistic mediums with you. Please send me an email if you have any questions and I can reserve space for you and your family members. You can also visit the gallery and see the installation to decide if this feels like an educational opportunity that you want to be a part of. I would be happy to also connect in person and talk about other educational opportunities that I can provide outside of this space. I am open to bringing the art of pigment hunting and paint making to your own community if an opportunity exists. Please send me an email to register or for more information at pigmenthunter@gmail.com. |
ANCESTRAL COLORS
DATE : JUNE 3RD, 2024
TIME : 10AM - 5PM LOCATION : TAOS, NM |
COLORS OF EARTH WORKSHOPColors of Earth weekend workshop will explore a variety of processes using natural minerals and plants for to make paints & inks with different binders. Ill be providing a diversity of minerals and plant materials from my personal collection that will be processed into a pigment with mortar and pestles as well as ball mills then sifted with a screen or levigated in water to further refine the materials for making paints and inks with.
We will make paints using mineral and plant based pigments along with various mediums such as watercolor, egg tempera, and oil paint. The inks will also be composed of a variety of plant materials and modifiers to create a diversity of natural colors. Other mediums will be explored depending on the interests of the workshop participants and the binders that are used in their own artistic practices. Feel free to bring your own watercolor sketchbook to make swatches of color with the pigments and paints as well as to take notes about the places and geological layers from which the originate from. This weekend workshop will be limited to 13 people due to space and equipment limitations. So if your interested in the workshop you should register sooner than later. The two weekend workshops on June 1st & 2nd and June 8th & 9th are identical workshops. The cost of the workshop will also be non-refundable! So please only sign up if you are committed to attending during this weekend. I will be offering three spots during each of the weekend workshops that can receive a scholarship. If your interested in the possibility of receiving a scholarship based on financial restrictions please send me an email with more details about you and your situation. |
COLORS OF EARTHDATE : JUNE 1ST & 2ND, 2024 TIME : 10AM-5PM LOCATION : TAOS, NM |
NATURAL COLORS WORKSHOPNatural Colors weekend workshop will explore a variety of processes using natural minerals and plants for to make paints & inks with different binders. Ill be providing a diversity of minerals and plant materials from my personal collection that will be processed into a pigment with mortar and pestles as well as ball mills then sifted with a screen or levigated in water to further refine the materials for making paints and inks with.
We will make paints using mineral and plant based pigments along with various mediums such as watercolor, egg tempera, and oil paint. The inks will also be composed of a variety of plant materials and modifiers to create a diversity of natural colors. Other mediums will be explored depending on the interests of the workshop participants and the binders that are used in their own artistic practices. Feel free to bring your own watercolor sketchbook to make swatches of color with the pigments and paints as well as to take notes about the places and geological layers from which the originate from. This weekend workshop will be limited to 13 people due to space and equipment limitations. So if your interested in the workshop you should register sooner than later. The two weekend workshops on June 1st & 2nd and June 8th & 9th are identical workshops. The cost of the workshop will also be non-refundable! So please only sign up if you are committed to attending during this weekend. I will be offering three spots during each of the weekend workshops that can receive a scholarship. If your interested in the possibility of receiving a scholarship based on financial restrictions please send me an email with more details about you and your situation. |
NATURAL COLORSDATE : JUNE 8TH & 9TH, 2024 TIME : 10AM-5PM LOCATION : TAOS, NM |
HEMPCRETE BASICSThis Hempcrete Building Basics weekend workshop will be an introduction to hempcrete and how it can be used in various forms from making precast blocks or the infilling of forms around existing timber framework.
Hempcrete also known as hemp-lime is a combination of the hurd derived from the woody core of the industrial hemp plant. The hurd is mixed with water along with a mineral binder composed of a high calcium hydrated lime and a pozzolan in the form of volcanic ash. Hempcrete is an incredible material which is breathable and has the ability to absorb CO2 out of the air where it is sequestered into the lime binder of the walls. The hempcrete can also act as a thermal mass along with good insulation properties that range from R2.0-2.5 depending on the mixture of hurd to binder as well as how densely it is tamped into the forms. A house built with hempcrete is also resistant to fire, mold, and insects. Hempcrete is not a structural material so a building needs to be constructed with traditional 2x4 or 2x6 framing to support the roof which forms can be applied to and infilled with hempcrete. Another option is to build a post and beam or timber frame structure which hempcrete blocks can be stacked and mortared around the structural frame. This workshop will focus on the proper mixing of hemp hurds and the mineral binder to create a material that can be tamped into forms for making hempcrete blocks or around framing of a wall system. The workshop will also include the different design options for framing out a wall with 2x3, 2x4, or 2x6 lumber depending on the desired outcome. Sources of local and regional materials for hemp hurds and the lime binder will also be provided to workshop participants. If your interested applying hempcrete on an actual building project visit the next workshop for more information. The cost of the workshop will also be non-refundable! So please only sign up if you are committed to attending during this weekend. |
HEMPCRETE BASICSDATE : MAY 25TH & 26TH, 2024 TIME : 9AM - 5PM LOCATION : TAOS, NM |
HEMPCRETE BUILDINGThe Hempcrete Building weekend workshop will provide an opportunity for a hands on experience to apply hempcrete techniques onto an actual building project with both blocks and cast in place methods. The workshop will also provide knowledge on a diversity of techniques for framing a structure or retrofitting an existing structure to be infilled with hempcrete.
This workshop will utilize the hempcrete blocks after they have cured for a month which will be created during the Hempcrete Basics workshop that is happening on May 18th & 19th. The hempcrete blocks wills be used to create a wall around a timber frame / post & beam structure. Another structure will be composed of traditional stud framing with forms that will be infilled with hempcrete to be cast in place. The two day workshop will occur outside of Taos at an off grid site located on 40 acres that borders the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument near Cerro, NM. The cost of the workshop will not include meals so you will need to provide your own food. We can cook together and share meals created with local produce grown in the area if so desired. In terms of accommodations for places to stay - if your traveling from out of town or even if you live in Taos County there are plenty of places to pitch a tent or camp in your vehicle on the property. There are also official camping spots with a shade structure, picnic table, water and bathrooms in the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument. Other options for places to stay are at local vacation rentals near Cerro, Questa, Sunshine Valley, and El Rito if so desired. The instructor, Scott Sutton has designed and built a hempcrete tinyhouse on a trailer in 2017 and other site specific hempcrete projects in Oregon and New Mexico. Scott has also been active on numerous hempcrete building projects and workshops with Hempitecture at Idaho Basecamp, Hemp Eco System Hopland Hemphouse, and Starseed Creative Hempcrete Roundhouse. The cost of the workshop will also be non-refundable! So please only sign up if you are committed to attending during this weekend. |
HEMPCRETE BUILDINGDATE : JUNE 29TH & 30TH, 2024 TIME : 9AM - 5PM LOCATION : CERRO, NM |
ART OF PIGMENT HUNTINGThe Art of Pigment Hunting workshop during the Silver City Clay Festival will occur prior to the Clay Carving & Painting workshop by Athena Steen of the Canelo Project at Whiskey Creek Zocalo!
Ill be teaching the Art of Pigment Hunting where we will spend time out in the geological landscape around Silver City. We will use maps of the surrounding geology to help us learn about the unique aspects of this beautiful place revealing the types and locations of minerals and their formations. The materials will be collected in an environmentally responsible manner and processed through the use of levigation, sifting, and milling to prepare for their use in the clay carving and painting workshop. The clay plasters and mineral pigments will be used to collaboratively create a work of art on an existing adobe wall at Whiskey Creek Zocalo where these workshops are being held. The Silver City Clay Festival will occur during the week of July 22 - 28th. I'm honored to be able to create an Art of Pigment Hunting workshop in collaboration with Whiskey Creek Zocalo! The Art of Pigment Hunting workshop will occur on July 22 - 23rd prior to the Clay Carving and Painting workshop on July 24 - 26th taught by Athena Steen! It will be an honor to collect and process materials to be used for the Clay Carving and Painting with Athena to create a work of art on an adobe wall located at Whiskey Creek Zocalo. The workshop participants can take one or both of the workshops and help create a collaborate mural with local materials. The Canelo Project is an incredible place cultivated over the years by Athena and Bill Steen where they teach a diversity of workshops on natural building techniques with their extremely talented family! I personally have been wanting to visit the cultural landscape they have sculpted with their own hands creating timber frame structures, strawbale homes, earthen plasters, and works of art that are all composed of local materials and sustainable building techniques! CLAY WALL CARVING WORKSHOP IN NEW MEXICO WITH ATHENA STEEN & DANIELLE FELGENHAUER Dates : July 24th-26th, 2024 Location : Whiskey Creek Zocalo: 11786 HWY 180 E. Arenas Valley, NM |
ART OF PIGMENT HUNTINGDATE : JULY 22ND & 23RD, 2024 TIME : 10AM-5PM LOCATION : SILVER CITY, NM |
CUSTOM WORKSHOPS
If you would like to organize or host a workshop in a geological landscape where you call home at your art studio or at a community or educational space please send me an email to discuss the possibilities.