SAUGUS — Residents will have the opportunity to flex their creative muscles during a free sketchbook workshop in February.
The Saugus Public Library and artist Kelly Slater will be hosting a series of free online workshops, titled “Artist’s Sketchbooks and Books: A Creative Journey Into One-of-Kind Books.”
Slater is a self-taught artist who specializes in abstracts of landscapes and trees. For the past several years, she has focused on the landscapes of New England.
“What I enjoy most about the New England landscape is the trees,” she said. “They are so incredibly beautiful — from old apple trees in abandoned orchards to gnarled and dwarfed spruces at the mountain tops or along the seacoasts.”
Her philosophy is that art-making is not just for experts. Instead, art can and should be fun and accessible. She believes all people can improve both their artistic skills and their quality of life simply by making art into a playful and experimental form of recreation.
“People have so many responsibilities, worries and distractions,” she said. “Being able to set all that aside for a time and to play artistically can really refresh people and help them deal more effectively with life’s challenges. Our artistic side also helps us to become more in touch with feelings and intuition — which I believe can help us discover new ways of addressing society’s many problems.”
The series of five 90-minute workshops provide a beginner-level look into both sketchbook and artist-book creation.
Students will have the opportunity to make a sketchbook or artist’s book — which is a piece of art that utilizes the form of a book — in each session, and also begin to embellish their creations, inspired by a variety of prompts, demonstrations, and examples.
No experience is required to participate and supplies will be provided by the library.
The series will kick off on Tuesday, Feb. 15 from 6:30-8 p.m. with “Artist’s Sketchbooks as Artistic Laboratory.” Participants will create two sketchbooks.
Workshops are open to ages teens through adults. Students can sign up for anywhere from one session to all five if inclined. However, it is encouraged to sign up for all five, since each workshop will build on skills acquired in the previous session.
“My favorite aspect of teaching is when I see people having a really good time, getting totally absorbed in the possibilities of art-making, and forgetting about creating something ‘perfect’ or ‘precious,'” Slater said. “Especially enjoy seeing people who have been made to feel that they can’t do art suddenly discover that yes they can.”
“I recently taught a workshop in which a woman in her 70s remarked that, after a lifetime of feeling she didn’t have artistic ability, had opened up a watercolor tube for the first time and was having a fabulous time. As an added bonus, it just happened that she created several beautiful pieces.”
Advance registration is required through the Saugus Public Library. To reserve your space at the free workshops, send an email to [email protected] with “SPL workshops” in the subject line. The program is supported in part by a grant from the Saugus Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.