Monday: Still Life in Pastel [Adult]

Brilliant color that does not yellow with time, a velvety matte surface unlike any other medium, dry color that is capable of a range of effects. These characteristics are distinctive to pastel and just part of why this medium was beloved by the Impressionist artists and beyond. In this class, students will use soft pastels to create artwork emphasizing color, texture, value, and composition. Students may work with photographs or from still life and will also explore the abstraction possibilities from these sources.

Materials Needed: Winsor Newton soft pastel (for learning 12-24 set), Schmincke pastels (half sticks 24 set - professional, color pastel paper pad (16x20 or larger), Strathmore drawing paper (16x20 or larger, cream color), set of 12 watercolor pencils (affordable set - crayola included), white eraser.

About the Teaching Artist: Dressler Smith is a nationally acclaimed American artist, and author, whose unique works on paper and stained glass windows are designed for churches & are to "touch the human spirit". Dressler Smith's journey is chronicled in the new book "Celebrating Life Through the Arts: The Inspirational Journey of Dressler Smith". Her work became private acquisitions of notable celebrities Oprah Winfrey, former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and Coretta  Scott King.

Dressler has been the Coordinator of Adult Programs for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts in Philadelphia, PA, through June 2017 and she has taught at Camden County College for 23 years. She was voted one of 20 Super Women of 2016 by South Jersey Magazine.

Dressler's paintings and stained glass are dedicated to the memory of the mothers of our past many of which were unable to have an art career.