Loretta Benedetto Marvel is a mixed media artist and writer whose narrative art and writing reflects a strong connection to home, family, faith, and sense of place. She writes a regular feature column with artwork for the magazine Cloth, Paper, Scissors on creativity and the artist's journey. She has been published in Somerset Studio, Legacy, and in the anthology, The Circle Continues, ed. by Judith Duerk. Loretta's work combines family photographs, drawings, paintings, fabric collage elements, beading, and other ephemera she has inherited from her large family of Italian American women, who kept every letter, corsage, hair bow, rosary, bobby pin, and receipt they ever had. She has lived in many parts of the country with her patient husband, three children, and assorted pets and her goal in life is to create as much art and writing as it takes to tell all the stories in her head and use up all the stuff that she herself has accumulated through the years.

Roots and Wings -Creating a Personal Mythology
Loretta Benedetto Marvel - Artist
Friday October 19 & Saturday October 20

Kit Fee: $10.00 - Payable to Artist
In this 2-day workshop, we will explore using vintage family photos (yours or someone else's) to create a series of collages that will combine drawing, painting, collage ephemera, fabric elements, stamping, and beading to create beautiful, strong personal iconic imagery for the artist. On the first day, the artist will learn how to draw from photographs using different foolproof, quick techniques and then proceed to do a simple painting from the drawing. On the second day, the artist will use paper and fabric collage elements to give their paintings dimension and depth, and to add ribbons, buttons, beading, and other three dimensional elements to finish the portraits. No experience in drawing or painting is necessary, just an enthusiasm for learning simple techniques. It's a great way to ease into painting and to use all the wonderful collage and fabrics that we have all accumulated!
Supply List:-Roots and Wings:

-A selection of old or new photographs, of your family or somebody else's, that intrigue you
-watercolors paints - any simple set will do. You can also work in acrylics if you are more used to them.
-drawing pencils - even plain old #2's will do
-drawing pen with waterproof black ink (micron, pentel, etc.)
-paint brushes - a small and a large "round", a detail brush, and a larger, flat brush for backgrounds (if you don't paint, just get a craft pack of paint brushes at Michael's, etc.)
-collage papers - scraps, decorated papers, text, printed papers, whatever you have
-fabric scraps
-any three dimensional collage material that can be attached to a heavy piece of watercolor paper, e.g. ribbons, embroidery thread, buttons, tags, beads, findings, bits of jewelry, etc.
-matte gel medium
-stronger adhesive for three dimensional objects
-scissors
-If you have a laptop with a photo manipulation software such as Photoshop elements, and you can bring it easily, please scan in your photos. If you don't - don't worry
-large sketchpad
-large plastic or metal ryler (clear plastic gridded type used in quilting is helpful if you have it)
-beadings thread and needles
-any rubber stamps you already own that have symbols or imagery that you feel strongly attached to
-waterproof ink pad

Spirit of the Day Cards: 2 Techniques for Travel Journaling on the Go
Loretta Benedetto Marvel - Artist
Sunday October 21

Kit Fee: $20.00 - Payable to Artist
Love to sketch, journal, and draw on vacation but tired of lugging around heavy journal books and spending your day in one spot while everyone else is on the town? In this class, we will learn 2 types of techniques for journaling on the go. The first is using flash cards on which to capture bits and pieces of your day and for collecting ephemera, capturing the colors, and experiences of the day, and can be kept in a small drawstring bag. The other technique is to create "journal cards" that are easy to carry and transport, and on which you can capture bits and pieces of your day that can be developed and embellished at the end of the day or the end of the trip into more finished pages. We will experiment using different types and weights of paper on which to journal, draw,and sketch, and experiment with different, portable media, such as small watercolor sets, watercolor crayons, and pen and ink. We will learn different techniques such as quick sketching, making lists, and photo journaling. The finished journal pages will be bound using a simple, paper binding and the pages embellished with beadings and ribbons.

Supply List: Spirit of the Day cards

-drawing pen with waterproof black ink (micron, pentel, etc.)
-paint brushes - a small and a large "round", a detail brush, and a larger, flat brush for backgrounds (if you don't paint, just get a craft pack of paint brushes at Michael's, ect.)
-collage papers - scraps, decorated papers, text, printed papers, whatever you have
-watercolor, gouache, acrylics, watercolor crayons, (whatever you feel comfortable with)
-drawing pencils - even plain old #2's will do
-alphabet stamps, alphabet stickers
-ruler
-3 yards of any type of ribbon (no wired ribbon)
-beads
-beading thread and needles
-a few rolls of double-sided clear tape
-gel medium
-archival glue stick
-small rubber stamps
-archival ink pad
-scissors