Waterfall Arts Belfast

Collagraph printmaking employs both relief and intaglio print making techniques. By combining these techniques different tonal effects and color intensity can be achieved. In this introductory session participants will experiment with a variety of materials and textures to create their own collagraph plates. Printing can be done with and without a press making the process easy to duplicate in a home studio space.

If you are looking to build up your drawing skills, increase your eye hand coordination, and develop confidence in your ability as an artist then this is the class for you. Drawing coaches Mike Fletcher and Julie Rose will help you develop your creative muscles with a variety of exercises and projects designed to engage and stimulate the draft-person in you. Students will have the opportunity to explore a variety of approaches to drawing technique and media while they work from both still life arrangements and live models. For beginners and intermediate students.

Art Together Mornings is a series of memorable mornings where adult and child create side-by-side! Each project is designed to fully engage all ages and stages; parents get their hands dirty enjoying the materials, while being guided with tips on supporting their young artists’ creativity. Each adult-child group takes home whatever they make as a keepsake of their special morning. Through the Art Together Mornings series, families explore a variety of activities and feel the benefits of the unique experience of focused time spent creating together.

The return of the popular make and take camp where we create a whole little world of our own... in addition to painting, printing, sculpting, drawing, building, playing, gluing, weaving and photographing!   Teensy Tiny Town III with Bridget Matros July 8 - 12 Monday - Friday, 9:00AM - 3:00PM for ages 8 to 12 $225 (10% sibling discount) Members receive class discounts! Check out our membership program here.    ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Bridget Matros, Waterfall Art’s Youth & Family…

No painting experience necessary! This class is about an approach to art. Here you will practice closing off the inner critics and open up the meditational space needed to connect with the medium. Get ready to immersions yourself in the space of creation.

Learn how to achieve multiple colors in a linoleum cut image through reduction printing. This 3 hour workshop will be an introduction to the technique of reduction printing. Students will learn about cutting tools, materials, carving sequence and ink mixing. Students will use 6x9 easy cut linoleum blocks and have the opportunity to carve and edition their own print.

Animals, Beasts, Critters and Creatures inspire a wild week of clay sculpting, face painting, chalk drawing, nest building, paw printing, puppet making and more!

This event features art making (ceramics in this case), good drink, and good company. Working with clay is relaxing and fun and if you add in a whole room of people working in clay, having fun, and enjoying a little wine, it’s even better. Unleash your creativity and have a good time doing it. We’ll supply everything you need – clay, equipment, and instruction and for a small donation, the wine!

This class will explore watercolor’s transparent qualities. Students will learn about washes, gradations, tonal values, manipulating and controlling the medium while being open to its endless surprises.

Monoprinting is a form of printmaking that produces a unique print and a great process for understanding the basics of the printmaking process in general. Students will learn several approaches to applying ink and creating texture to a plate. Images are then transferred on to paper using a printing press. A variety of materials and tools are often used to embellish prints.

Mugs, tiles and boxes and more are ready for you to add your personal touch. You decorate them, we’ll fire them, and you pick them up in a few days. Join Linda Stec for this paint your own pottery workshop, it’s a great way to have fun with friends or spend time with your family!  Everyone is welcome, kids under 12 must come with a supervising adult. Cover price includes one mug or tile; a small selection of other pieces will be available as well. Not confident with a brush? – no worries!  Use our stamps and easy to use squeeze bottles.

Up until the late 1800's, all colors came from natural sources. It's fun and easy to still use these dyes today. In Natural Dye Rainbow, we will explore 8-10 natural dyes, from roots, flowers, minerals, wood, and even an insect or two. We will learn how to prepare fibers for dyeing and learn how to coax maximum colors from our dyestuff. We will be dying wool yarns, and end up with 15 or so colors. Please bring note-taking materials, as well as a plastic bag or container for bringing home your wet yarns. Dyeing can have an element of waiting, so feel free to bring your knitting or other hand craft to work on while we wait for our colors to cook!

Color Theory + Outdoors = plein air painting. We'll be interpreting the landscape with lessons in color theory to guide us into integrated and balanced color interaction. We'll start in the studio to introduce the day's focus and then head out to work. By afternoon, we'll wind up back at Waterfall Arts to look over our work and pat each other on the back for a job well done; a relaxing way to learn, paint, and take in the view. Everything from oils and acrylics to watercolors are welcome.

Drip, pour, drag, layer, heat, and incise! Investigate the art of encaustic painting in this very hands-on workshop using pigmented wax, and a heated palette! Explore a rich variety of marks and surfaces while doing image transfer, etching, and collaging in this seductive medium. Take both your flat collections of drawings, collected papers, pictures and incorporate found objects. Class time will be divided between demonstrations, individual work time, and discussion about historical and contemporary practices. We will also touch on proper studio ventilation, wax safety, and how to “finish” artworks in terms of framing and care. Students will leave with multiple finished pieces and the understanding of proper studio set-up.

Back to the 1400's and the scripted letter; we'll be working with the Italic alphabet. Practice makes perfect so there will be plenty of that in addition to working with some designs that bring old letters into the 21st century. We'll study the work of calligraphers past and present and look at possibilities for illuminating letters with gold leaf. Lots to learn about methods and materials in 3 days. No previous experience needed. A lot can be accomplished in a short time.

Take painting pottery to the next level. In this one day workshop work alongside ceramic artist Maggie Blue as she demos different techniques in surface design. Using low-fire glazes, students will experiment with pattern application and image transfer on bisque ware. A variety of pre-fired vessels, platters, plates, bowls, tiles, cups, mugs and other items will be available to participants. All levels welcome!   CERAMICS: SURFACE DESIGN with Maggi Blue Saturday, August 10 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM $65 (general)…

Drypoint is a type of intaglio print making where a needle is used to incised lines into a plate. Different effects can be achieved through the depth and frequency of line as well as the amount of ink used. For this introductory session participants will use plexiglass plates to learn basic etching techniques.

Getting out and around in Belfast, with sketch pads and drawing boards in hand. We'll be spending two days gallivanting about, enjoying the architecture and natural beauty of our hometown. Lessons in linear perspective, structures of design and composition, use of methods and materials will focus our efforts to capture the essential Belfast. No previous experience necessary.

Join us for an all day, all-ages, fun and educational photo activity day! Youth 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult (but don't worry, this is just as interesting for grown-ups!). We will all build a room-sized camera obscura, make our own pinhole cameras, and create lumen prints and cyanotypes outside. Everyone will leave with artwork, a lens-less camera, and a new appreciation for light and optics.