2024 Summer Workshops
This workshop is part of our Visual Arts Duet Series.
Two of Provincetown’s favorite artists join us as faculty for a weeklong workshop devoted to drawing and painting the figure. Michael Prodanou teaches drawing on Monday & Tuesday; Jo Hay teaches painting on Wednesday & Thursday. Friday brings both faculty together for a collaborative teaching day. Includes mid-week conversation with Hay & Prodanou on the Art of the Figure.
Monday, Tuesday & Friday: Michael Prodanou – Drawing the Figure
Edgar Degas wrote, “…art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” This workshop applies this idea to drawing the figure. We will explore drawing as a continuous process pushing the tools we use to create an original idea and image.
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: Jo Hay – Painting the Figure
This well-structured class deals with the importance of being able to see and execute the simple geometric forms that make up the figure to successfully provide a solid foundation for any painting style. Initially, several line drawings will be made in charcoal to familiarize the student with the class goal. Moving then to oil paint, and using only the primary colors students will focus on cohesive color mixing to consciously block in the figure going on to resolve the painting as far as possible within the class time frame. Clear instruction will be given throughout each stage and student discussion of all topics related to the class will be encouraged to enhance the group learning experience.
Biography
Michael Prodanou, a trained architect, began drawing and painting in 2000. His influences include Egon Shiele and the German Expressionists as well as Bay Area figure painters David Park and Nathan Olivera. Prodanou has had exhibitions at Rossetti Fine Arts in Ft. Lauderdale and in Provincetown at The School House Gallery, PAAM and The Fine Arts Work Center. He teaches in Provincetown and Ft. Lauderdale.
Laura Shabott is a graduate from SMFA at TUFTS. Emily Mergel of Artscope Magazine writes “[the artist] continually draws inspiration from abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann and breaks forms into their most evocative essential…she seizes the opportunity to burst the gallery walls, speaking with intentional gesture in visual vocabulary all her own.” Shabott has had multiple solo shows at Four Eleven Gallery and exhibits widely on Cape Cod. She lives with her husband in Provincetown.