Better Art by Design in Florida in Sept.

Better Art by Design Retreat
Liz Berg & Mary McBride
September 14 – 18, 2009

September is time to go back to school so join Liz Berg and Mary McBride in New Smyrna Beach, Florida for a wonderful retreat in the woods where class work becomes child’s play. Members may stay in the motel type rooms on campus at Atlantic Center for the Arts or drive in daily. But even if you don’t want to take a class, you can still join us for meals and use separate studio space for your own projects.

The multi-day class has been created to give quilters the confidence to design and compose artistic art quilts. It is also appropriate for those who are already creating art quilts and want to improve their skills in design and composition.

The elements and principles of design are discussed at length. There are a number of small, fast exercises which are geared to help the student understand the individual elements and the principles which combine them into successful art. When finished, students have learned about harmony and unity in design, contrast, rhythm, repetition, gradation, balance and dominance in order to use the elements of design to create a good piece of art.

Students received frequent group critiques by the instructor so everyone learns from other’s work.

Two and a half days are spent on the exercises. The remainder of the time is spent in developing ideas into small quilts which may be finished during class time, depending upon the students’ methods of work. The instructor is available to frequently interact with the students during their design and creation process.

Fees

Private room and bath, all meals, studio space and instruction: $800
All meals, studio space and instruction: $600
Private room and bath, all meals, studio space: $700
Studio and meals only: $400
Cottage with queen sized bed, add $825.
Facts

Students who are staying on campus may arrive on Sunday, September 13 and depart on Saturday, September 19.
Bedding and towels supplied. Small refrigerator in each room.
Personal Chef Sue Flynn will prepare all meals. She can adapt menus to special diets.
Arrive and depart from Daytona Beach, Orlando or Orlando/Sanford airports.
Deposit due now: $100 non-refundable, balance due August 15. If cancellation due to weather or small attendance, full amount will be refunded. If attendee cancels after August 15, and spot cannot be filled, a portion will be retained to pay instructor fees.

www.marymcbridearts.homestead.com – MrsGorgon@gmail.com
www.lizbergquilts.com - LizBerg@sbcglobal.net

To register by credit card, go online to www.AtlanticCenterForTheArts.org and go to the DONATION button. State that the $100 is for Liz Berg Class. You may also mail a check to Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1414 Art Center Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. Make sure to denote it for Liz Berg Class. Then just email Mary McBride at MrsGorgon@gmail.com with the receipt or check number, and your contact information.

McBride runs Focus for Fiber retreats at Atlantic Center for the Arts each spring with great success and has decided to expand the experience so others can attend programs with her.

Berg has taught this class for several years and the work the students have produced has been exciting. Students from classes, both on line and in person have made the following comments about Berg’s class:

“I just wanted you to know how VERY useful and inspiring I found your class. The exercises were rich with possibility and, at the same time, very easy to tackle. I will continue to collect images as you showed us how to (with the little view-finder, or ones of different sizes, etc.), and I am eager at this very minute to play with some
small abstract quilts made from images I collected yesterday. Both activities really brought home the principals and elements, made them stick in the mind, and helped me to articulate intellectual knowledge with practical application.

“You are a superior instructor, with great content and a warm, irreverent, accepting, and very amusing style. Thank you, again, for an absolutely swell day of learning!”

“By the way a side-effect is I'm picking up confidence and working more playfully than I would usually do - also what I'm producing is unlike my usual stuff, which is interesting...”