Upcoming Workshops & Classes, and Private Lessons

Summer

LIFE DRAWING WORKSHOPS
A two-week Life Drawing Workshop is now scheduled for July 2011 in Hudson, NY
and another 3-week workshop is in the planning stages, to take place in Montana.  Stay tuned! 

These will be intensive and extensive periods of study, immersed in charcoal and deep seeing. 
Juicy, eminently useful, eye-opening and soul-nourishing study.

HUDSON VALLEY

Charcoal:  The Willow Branch Speaks

JULY 11 - 22, 2011

10am - 5:30pm, Monday through Friday

20 three-hour sessions/60 hours of study in total

Hudson, NY

for adults & teens (16&up)

See. Move. Create. differently.
Deepen seeing.
Expand creative imagination.

In study with Shuster, students learn how to continually draw more out of that which seems familiar, experiencing the depths of the world observed closely and felt intimately. The work is rooted in an exploration and deepening of seeing. This process takes on a contemplative character as the eye and hand travel the shapes, values and lines of a given “landscape,” and the focus is less on the end as it is on what each present moment offers to the eye and the heart.  

This extensive and intensive workshop for adults & teens explores our visual world, the meaning residing within the visual, and the artistic expression that emerges through this seeing. Drawing with willow charcoal, we will explore an indoor and outdoor landscape with model. Shape, pattern, line, value and the relationships between will be the focus, and will be complemented by attention to surface preparation, space and composition. As we open our eyes to new ways and shapes and compositions, our perspective on the world too will shift.  The workshop will be kept small to allow for individualized attention within the group setting.  Each student's path in class will be built on his/her previous explorations and insights.  Students of all levels are welcome.

instructor:  Wendy Shuster

MONTANA workshop

A three week-long drawing workshop in Bozeman, MT -- 15 days (30 three-hour sessions, ie. 90 hours) in total - is in the works for June 2012

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PRIVATE LESSONS & SMALL CLASSES 
offered in the Hudson Valley & NYC


in drawing, painting and sculpture
for adults, teens & children

      In study with Shuster, students learn how to continually draw more out of that which seems familiar, experiencing the depths of the world observed closely and felt intimately. The work is rooted in an exploration and deepening of seeing. This process takes on a contemplative character as the eye and hand travel the shapes, values, lines and color of a given “landscape,” and the focus is less on the end as it is on what each present moment offers to the eye and the heart. In addition to the joy and insight found in the process, learning to draw, paint and sculpt, makes one a more creative, whole-brain thinker.  Each student's path in class will be built on his/her previous explorations and insights.  Students of all levels are welcome.

     If you're interested in studying privately in your home, or mine, or if there are two, three, four or more of you who would like to work together during lessons, please let me know.  

     The rates vary depending on how many people are participating, and there is a sliding scale depending on what you can afford.  

Please call or write for rates or with any questions.  I look forward to working with you.



Drawing and painting workshops also offered throughout the year.

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     Please keep in mind that one of my top priorities is that I have a chance to share art and art-making and a different way of seeing with all who would like to learn and create. If you have any questions, thoughts, ideas, or proposals about classes, learning, or how to make that affordable to you - please share them with me! If your heart calls you to draw or paint, we'll find a way to make that happen.

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Community DRAWING class
for adults & teens (16+) 

9:30am-12:30pm every Friday

Hudson, NY

instructor: Wendy Shuster

please call or write with interest.

pay what you can: $5-35 per session

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Students' thoughts on study with Shuster:

1.  "As a teacher of dance at a liberal arts college  for over thirty years, I have a high regard for the value of teaching the arts to students of all levels.  I have studied, on several different occasions over the years, drawing and painting with Wendy Shuster.  She is one of the best teachers it has been my privilege to study with.  Great teachers, in my opinion, work equally well with professional-level students and with newcomers to the field.  They treat their students with respect and consideration, while demanding of them hard work and discipline.  They are able to blend professional expectations with their  passion for the the arts in a unique and exciting way.  They know when to step in, when to leave the student alone, and what kind of mix of criticism and support will be appropriate with each student.  Wendy is one of those teachers.  I recommend her highly to teach drawing and painting in any setting--teenagers, adults, beginners, intermediate or advanced level.  She is, without a doubt, a master teacher."


 2.  "Wendy’s approach to teaching is unique, eye opening, simultaneously multi-layered.  Wendy’s teachings make it possible to develop as an artist.  I have learned to recognize and interact with a world of visual relationships far more fascinating and complex than anything I could name or invent. The visible is astonishing! The elements of design appear before me like a series of clues promising to unlock and reveal the structure of the universe, not unlike an equation to a mathematician or a law of physics to a physicist.  The opportunity to “see” becomes available in other aspects of life; Life and Art become one."


3.  "It has been my pleasure to be instructed by Wendy drawing in charcoal or should I say in 'seeing in charcoal'.  What Wendy teaches is seeing and I use this in my life everyday to look beyond what are the 'optical delusions' of life that keep us from seeing what is clearly in front of us."

4.  "Wendy is exciting to work with because with each class or workshop she truly does lead you to a different way of seeing.  She engages you with a variety of possible approaches to your subject whether you’re drawing or painting.  Then she works with you individually to stretch your process and further your artistic development.  She creates a supportive classroom atmosphere that’s conducive to in-depth work and experimentation.  She’s an enormously talented artist/teacher."

5.  "Working with Wendy Shuster has been a gift. The mind is a powerful thing, sometimes the way we think can create a filter over our conception of the world around us. Wendy has a gift when it comes to aiding others in shifting these mental boundaries.  The process she shares opens up the possibility of seeing the world clearly, in detail, as it is.. and for me, in a much more colorful way! I can not express fully enough what a joy the heightening of my sensitivity to color has been (and still is). Overall my time in Wendy's studio has been a delightful, fascinating experience. I am so grateful I have had the opportunity to work with her."