Class Schedule - Abernathy Arts Center

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SU26 Creating the Best Color Combination with Kathy Rennell Forbes

Students will learn and create a wide variety of pleasing color combinations based on the Iten Color Wheel. Kathy will share this color wheel and the combinations. Each class you will practice mixing the colors using a limited palette. Students can work in watercolor, acrylic or oil using a warm and cool of each primary color. Bring a large Bristol board pad, pencil, ruler, large mixing tray, rags or paper towels and appropriate brushes and paints for your medium. 

For convenient parking located nearest the tennis courts – use GPS address:  6621 Bridgewood Valley Road, NW, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. 

Instructor Bio:

Kathy Rennell Forbes is an accomplished artist and instructor. Her impressionistic paintings are in private and corporate collections around the world. 

The artist was a 2017 Olmsted Plein Air Invitational "Master Artist." She was an invited artist to the Olmsted Georgia Color four times (2019 - 2022). Kathy is a Signature Member and past President of the Georgia Watercolor Society. She participates in many solo and group shows; and has won awards in local, regional and national exhibits. Forbes earned her BFA in Art and Art Education at the University of Georgia in Athens. She continues to attend art workshops with many of the leading painters of today.

Kathy has exhibited and conducted watercolor demonstrations at the High Museum of Art, Booth Western Art Museum and Oglethorpe University Museum of Art. She conducts watercolor workshops around the U.S. and Internationally (Cuba, France, Italy, Spain) and teaches art classes in the Atlanta area. Forbes creates her artwork at ‘Studio Z’ in Atlanta’s historic Westside Arts District.

https://www.rennellforbes.com/

https://www.instagram.com/artbykrf/

https://www.facebook.com/KathyRennellForbesArtist

Artist Statement:

I work in watercolor, acrylic and oil; my favorite is watercolor. I love the freedom this medium provides and how the paints react to different surfaces and the way I manipulate my brush. The medium is very transportable. It allows me to travel with a minimum of supplies across the globe, to a local park or garden to paint outdoors. Working in nature, heightens all my senses that then take hold in my paintings. In addition to the beautiful landscape in front of me; I like to capture the sound of the birds and insects chirping, the soft breeze on the back of my neck, the smell of the saltwater and the taste of local foods into my paintings. Although some of my outdoor paintings are finished works, many are studies. I take the information I gathered onsite and incorporate them into my studio paintings.

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SU26 Debra Nadelhoffer’s Oil Painting

In this class students will work on composition, value, shapes, and techniques in oils.  We will be using photos or occasionally work from set ups to examine the effect of light on subjects. Students can bring their own photos to work from or use some provided by me. This class will help students make better decisions about how to begin a painting and carry it through stages to completion. If you are looking to step up in your painting journey, this class will get you started.

For convenient parking located nearest the tennis courts – use GPS address:  6621 Bridgewood Valley Road, NW, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. 

 

Instructor Bio:

I have loved color and creating since I was a child. Rainy days spent inside coloring or painting were my favorite activities. Not much has changed, a rainy day remains an invitation to turn on some beautiful music and create at the easel. As a young adult I married and since we lived in a rural area, it was not easy or affordable to take art classes. I painted from home while raising my family, studying books and working first with watercolor, then pastels and finally oils. Each medium had its own strengths and I now use something from all of them to create my paintings. As my family grew, I went to work and began to take life classes in the evenings after my youngest child left for college. It was so exciting to be able to learn from wonderful artists. I painted at night and on the weekends working in oils and pastels.  I was president of Southeastern Pastel Society for seven years and came into contact with some talented artists. The desire to paint from life sent me outside into the landscape to paint plein air.  Painting plein air has enhanced my work beyond what I could have imagined.  I continue to paint plein air for my own education, working on location and bringing information back into the studio where I remember colors, sounds and impressions that no photograph can duplicate. I have found my passion painting the landscape in oils and pastels with all of its many moods, trying to share my vision with the viewer. I particularly love painting the mountains, coast and water anywhere. My greatest compliment is when someone says my paintings make them feel like they are there. 

CLICK THE RED TEXT BELOW FOR MORE INFO OR TO REGISTER.

SU26 Diana Toma’s Acrylic Painting – 4 WEEKS

Fall in love with acrylic by exploring how to create representational paintings in a loose painterly way. This is a one-of-a-kind approach where contemporary concepts are implemented using traditional techniques. You will paint a variety of different subject matter at each class, such as florals, wildlife, landscapes, cityscapes, portraits & more, and finish a painting by the end of each session. Our instructor, award-winning professional artist Diana Toma, will demonstrate how to do it at each class and give you individual guidance as you progress with your artwork. Whether you're a seasoned artist or a complete beginner, this class is designed to inspire and elevate your artistic skills to new heights. 

For convenient parking located nearest the tennis courts – use GPS address:  6621 Bridgewood Valley Road, NW, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. 

Instructor Bio:

Diana Toma is an award-winning professional artist whose style blends traditional techniques applied in a contemporary manner. Holding a master’s degree in fine arts, she has been exhibiting her work since 1996, racking up participating in over a hundred international group exhibitions and 12 solo art shows. Her artworks have been featured in art magazines such Artist’s Magazine, American Artist, The Art of Watercolor, in 2024 being featured on the cover of The Best of Acrylic. An esteemed artist, Ms. Toma is often invited to represent the working artist on panel discussions, such as for the “TechsmARTs” at The Contemporary, “The business of art” at the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs in Atlanta, and judge art competitions, such as “Artists of Georgia Exhibit” at Carnegie Hall, the “Fine Art Annual Competition” at Arts Clayton Gallery, and more. In her free time Diana served as a chair and board member for the International Watercolor society, and Georgia Watercolor Society. Ms. Toma has been commissioned to create art for companies such as HBO, HGTV, USTA, RJTR and her artwork has been acquired to be displayed in public spaces, such as at the Fulton County’s libraries and commercial spaces throughout the Atlanta Metro Area. Diana Toma also teaches painting classes for adults. Her teaching approach focuses on fast, loose painting. Connect with her on social media @ArtByDianaToma 

CLICK THE RED TEXT BELOW FOR MORE INFO OR TO REGISTER.

SU26 Diana Toma’s Painting with Watercolor – 4 WEEKS

Fall in love with watercolor by exploring the core principles of painting applied specifically to watercolor techniques. You will paint a variety of different subject matter at each class, such as florals, wildlife, landscapes, cityscapes, portraits & more, and finish a painting by the end of each session. Our instructor, award-winning professional artist Diana Toma, will demonstrate how to do it at each class and give you individual guidance as you progress with your artwork. Whether you're a seasoned artist or a complete beginner, this class is designed to inspire and elevate your artistic skills to new heights. 

For convenient parking located nearest the tennis courts – use GPS address:  6621 Bridgewood Valley Road, NW, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. 

Instructor Bio:

Diana Toma is an award-winning professional artist whose style blends traditional techniques applied in a contemporary manner. Holding a master’s degree in fine arts, she has been exhibiting her work since 1996, racking up participating in over a hundred international group exhibitions and 12 solo art shows. Her artworks have been featured in art magazines such Artist’s Magazine, American Artist, The Art of Watercolor, in 2024 being featured on the cover of The Best of Acrylic. An esteemed artist, Ms. Toma is often invited to represent the working artist on panel discussions, such as for the “TechsmARTs” at The Contemporary, “The business of art” at the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs in Atlanta, and judge art competitions, such as “Artists of Georgia Exhibit” at Carnegie Hall, the “Fine Art Annual Competition” at Arts Clayton Gallery, and more. In her free time Diana served as a chair and board member for the International Watercolor society, and Georgia Watercolor Society. Ms. Toma has been commissioned to create art for companies such as HBO, HGTV, USTA, RJTR and her artwork has been acquired to be displayed in public spaces, such as at the Fulton County’s libraries and commercial spaces throughout the Atlanta Metro Area. Diana Toma also teaches painting classes for adults. Her teaching approach focuses on fast, loose painting. Connect with her on social media @ArtByDianaToma

CLICK THE RED TEXT BELOW FOR MORE INFO OR TO REGISTER.

Contact Us

Abernathy Arts Center
 254 Johnson Ferry Road NW
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

phone 404-343-6692