Masterstrokes

In this three-week class, students will learn about the lives and artistic painting styles of iconic 20th century painters - Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, and Sonia Delaunay. All three of these women painters were trailblazers. They had successful art careers, and distinctive painting styles that continue to resonate and influence artists today. Instructor Sarajane Fellini will use one of the artists' signature paintings as a starting point for the class, and help guide each student through their own unique interpretation. Students will be painting with acrylic on canvas. This class is open to all levels.

Class minimum: 4

Class maximum: 8

Georgia O’Keeffe – who died in 1986 at the age of 98 - has been referred to as the mother of American modernism. O’Keeffe attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she learned to develop her own style by using her traditional art skills and honing them into a uniquely personal abstract interpretation of her subjects. She is known for her enlarged flower images and transcendent New Mexico landscapes.

Frida Kahlo, a leading Mexican painter is known for her numerous expressive self-portraits which she used to explore themes of identity, class, and race in Mexican society. She was also linked with the Surrealist artists of the 1920’s and 30’s and used symbolic imagery to tell the story of her complex life and personality. Kahlo gained recognition and acclaim as an artist in her own right but was also made famous by her tumultuous relationship with fellow Mexican artist/muralist, Diego Rivera.

Sonia Delaunay, a Ukranian French artist, was born in Russian in 1885 and died in 1979 in Paris. Delaunay was one of the founders of the Orphism art movement 1911- 1914. The Orphists used the theories of Cubism to create a more lyrical visual abstraction. Their canvases were intentionally void of a recognizable subject matter and focused purely on the relationship of shape, form, color, and movement. Delaunay was recognized as a painter and designer. Her bold geometric imagery was used to inspire fashion and costume design, furniture, textiles, and wall coverings.

About the Instructor:

Sarajane Fellini is an Artist Member of the ACWL-Nuveen where she sells her whimsical, colorful batiks and paintings and shares her vast teaching experience that she gained while running the art program at Rivermont Collegiate, in Bettendorf, Iowa. Sarajane is a regular art instructor at the ACWL-Nuveen teaching a variety of themed youth and adult classes.

ACWL-Nuveen classes are supported in part by grants from the Michigan Arts & Culture Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nuveen Benevolent Trust.