Sometimes the best gifts are spelled “presence.”
And while it’s a little presumptuous to enroll someone in an ongoing class as a holiday gift — unless it’s something specified on a wish list — a gift certificate for a one-off creative workshop is something that can fit into most anyone’s schedule.
Morrison artist and former Douglas County schoolteacher Kippi Mack-vonDuhn is among the local artists who offer art workshops and classes for individuals or very small groups. She sees an uptick in interest in one-time art classes as holiday gifts. (For more information, visit pathwaysthroughart.com).
“It’s not like a gift certificate,” she says. “It’s an art experience that’s given as a gift.”
This gift-giving idea is one that’s likely to be a hit with recipients who have a weakness for arts and crafts fairs, who linger over issues of HomeMade magazine, or who slow down to inspect display windows at Fancy Tiger and similar do-it-yourself outposts.
Idledale artist Claudia Roulier offers holiday discounts on such creative workshops. Normally, Roulier’s three-hour workshop is $90. Through December, the cost is $45 for one person, $60 for two, and $90 for three. (Details at claudia roulier.com.)
“People get access to my studio, my supplies and work materials, and all they have to bring are themselves,” says Roulier, whose work is currently being shown at the Arvada Center, Longmont’s Firehouse Gallery and Foothills Art Center.
Working alongside a professional can expand aspiring artists’ understanding of design and materials, she says. Smaller workshops and private studio sessions also afford the artist a chance to tailor the time to the needs of individual students.
Roulier’s workshops often focus on collage. Mack-vonDuhn’s workshops at her home studio near Tiny Town “really fluctuate,” she says, between drawing, painting, jewelry making, how to work with clay and other media.
Looking for other artists who teach? Consider approaching one whose work you like and simply asking if he or she teaches classes and workshops.
Another option for recipients who might want to try out a medium before working individually with an artist: a prepaid art lesson at an art school or studio.
The Fort Collins studio Creative Spirits (mycreativespirits.com) regularly hosts two- to three-hour guided sessions on creating a specific painting — a still-life scene, a winter landscape of aspens, an impressionism-inspired image. Supervising artists help students conceive their take on the common image, and everyone leaves the session with a finished painting.
Besides the camaraderie and the reward of learning or refining a skill, the best part of this gift: Someone else does the cleanup.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
