Sonoma Community Center
Enriching lives through education and the arts — for Sonoma Valley and beyond
Events
Pastel Painting – Combined Experience Levels
May 13 @ 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Beginner Dates: Mondays, May 13th – July 8th
Beginner Sessions: 8
Beginner Scale: $200 / $260 / $320
Experienced Dates: Mondays, June 3rd – July 8th
Experienced Sessions: 6
Experienced Scale: $150 / $195 / $240
No class will be held on May 27th for Memorial Day
Time: 2:00 – 4:30 PM
Instructor: Deborah Donahower
Location: Room 208 Print Studio
Ages: Adults, 18+
Skill Level: Beginning – Intermediate
If you need more clarification on whether you should register at the experienced or beginner level, please contact Jill Valavanis at jill@sonomacommunitycenter.org
About the class
This class runs with combined experience levels. The first two weeks of the course are attended by beginning level students only, to learn how to create a sketch and apply the pastels.
Weeks 3 – 8 will be available to all students, beginning and experienced skill levels.
This class will introduce students to basic techniques of using soft pastels as they work alongside the instructor to create landscapes, still lifes, animals and flowers. Learn to layer colors to create luminous, painterly effects. Beginners are guided as they work on the image provided each week; more experienced students may choose to work on an image of their choice. No prior experience is required. Please see the supply list to learn what materials are needed for this class.
Please share any special considerations (medical, physical, learning) that will help your instructor make your class accessible and accommodating for you. You can share these considerations when register or by emailing Sean at sean@sonomacommunitycenter.org.
When you register for a class, you’ll be offered three price tiers. The middle tier comes closest to what our registration fees used to be, and covers about 50% of the full cost of your participation in the class – with the other 50% covered by community donations. The first tier creates accessibility for people with limited income, while the third tier covers the full cost of participation – so that we can use community donations to support other people’s registration costs. When you choose to register at the third tier, you directly help support the Center’s efforts to remove financial barriers for others.
The Sonoma Community Center (the Center) strives to create an inclusive, safe community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. The Center is committed to creating such an environment because it brings out the fullest potential in each of us, which, in turn, contributes directly to creating a community of belonging. In order to ensure a positive, safe, and welcoming experience for everyone, all program participants are asked to abide by the following policies, community agreements, and restorative safety protocol.
About the instructor
Deborah Donahower
Instructor / Artist
She has taught for the Hudson River Museum, in Yonkers, New York; the Branson School in Marin; and was the owner/director of Pottery Design Center in Los Angeles and Wisteria Studio in Marin.
She taught ceramics, mosaics and pastels for 10 years through Napa Valley College Community Education Department, and at various elementary schools in the valley. She has won several Best of Show awards and blue ribbons at the Napa County Fair; and had a pastel painting accepted to the National Juried Show at the Sonoma Arts Guild in 2017 and 2019. Currently, she is teaching ceramics and pastels at the Sonoma Community Center, and at three elementary schools (after school art) in Napa, as well as adult art classes in Napa. She has been teaching art to adults and children for 43 years and it is her passion to empower budding artists with the basic foundation skills in art, and help them bloom into their own creativity and personal style.
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