3 Day (April 26-April 28) Heirloom Collage & Mixed Media Exploration with Theresa Wells Stifel

3 Day Heirloom Collage & Mixed Media Exploration with Theresa Wells Stifel

Wednesday, April 26 – Friday, April 28

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Create your own mixed media masterpieces using those little pieces of memories too precious to throw away! Your quirky snippets, papers, jewelry, fabric, or any small odds and ends can be layered to create a charming and personal piece of art. If you want to practice without worrying about ruining a special object, extra supply packets will be available to purchase for $5 a bag so you can play with a free spirit.

You will learn how to layer paint, paper, photos, trims, fabric and more.  We will learn different types of gluing, fusing and stitching methods to build interesting layers for your pieces. We will discuss and play with mark making, color, texture and pattern, answering questions along the way. Feel free to email the instructor with any questions: [email protected]

Supply list for class:

3 stretched canvases 8×10 or smaller
Your 3 favorite colors of acrylic paint
Matte medium
2 or three paint brushes – inexpensive is fine
Container for water
Fragrance free baby wipes
Paper towels
Scissors
Large eyed tapestry needle
Photos or images
And the fun things: papers, trims, buttons, ticket stubs, fabric scraps, metal objects, shells, pebbles – whatever is in that drawer or box that you want to get out in view!

Cost of the 3 day class is $215.00 per student.

Registration deadline is Saturday, April 22 by 5pm.

About the Instructor 

Currently residing in Gloucester County, Virginia, Theresa Wells Stifel was raised in a military/NASA family. Frequent global moves and wide-ranging duty stations gave her a wide range of life experiences and influences that fed her creative life.

Wells Stifel learned traditional craft, painting and needle working skills from her mother, every artistic interest was encouraged. “If I expressed an interest in a medium, from oil painting to wood burning, I was sure to find it gifted the next birthday or Christmas. This enabled me to really explore a wide range of tools, subjects and colors.”

Settling in the Washington DC metro area as a young adult, Wells Stifel moved from managing a photography studio to a recruiting career that lasted almost twenty years.  The arts were always a parallel effort. Moving on from her corporate job enabled her to concentrate on family and creativity.

After a blood infection cost her husband a leg and almost his life Wells Stifel was galvanized to create a family business that enabled them to care for her family.   Stifel & Capra, a 3000 square foot locals’ art gallery and vintage business, was born.

Stifel & Capra hosted monthly art shows, art classes, artist studios and provided a “home away from home” for creatives and design aficionados.

Inspired by her resident artists, Wells Stifel continued her art practice. Alexandria’s Art League, the Arlington Art Alliance Gallery Underground, Montgomery County’s Artist & Makers Studios and Tanglewood Works, Loudon County’s D’Amore Productions, Tysons Corner’s First Stage, Falls Church, VA’s Falls Church Arts and Alexia Scott’s Studio Gallery, Gloucester’s Arts on Main and Gloucester Arts Festival all hosted shows where her works were shown and sold. She curated Vienna’s “Artist Helping Others” Shows hosted at Vienna Presbyterian Church as well as multiple shows at Falls Church Arts and Stifel & Capra.

Primarily self-taught, Wells Stifel is known for incorporating vintage ephemera and hand stitching into her work. She thrives on fashioning vintage goods and techniques into something contemporary and is fascinated with the female form and the play of color on water.   During her career Wells Stifel has been featured in the Falls Church News Press, the Fairfax Times, the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, and the Washington Post.