You have stories that pack a punch, friend. They deserve to be told for the challenge they were and for the conqueror that you are. Relief art is a beautiful way to bring texture, depth, into your artwork to honor those stories—and it’s a practice with ancient roots, found across cultures for thousands of years. Traditionally, relief art has been used to tell stories, depict historical events, or express symbolic meanings. In this workshop, we’ll explore how relief can range from subtle, shallow forms barely rising from the surface (low relief) to bold, deeply carved shapes that almost come alive (high relief). Using plaster and simple materials, we’ll create small, dimensional scenes that reflect meaningful moments and personal stories—ways of honoring our human experience through visual narrative, memory, and metaphor. We’ll pace ourselves comfortably with each step, from building up layers with varied depths to adding detail and paint. You don’t need any experience with sculpture or painting—just a willingness to explore. By the end of the day, you’ll have a few finished works and a handful of techniques you can carry into your own creative practice. Come ready to get your hands messy, your imagination stirred, and your stories celebrated.
Supplies Needed to bring for Class:
3-5 substrates to work on. These can be wood, masonite, canvas boards, art panels, corrugated cardboard or foam core in whatever size you want to work on. Anywhere from 5x7” to 8x10” will work great!
Plaster Gauze - 1 roll of 4” or wider plaster gauze (If you’re coming with a friend, you can both probably share one).
Scissors
A few artist brushes including a 1” wide soft, dense brush (ideally not a coarse chip brush).
Your favorite gel medium or glue (I like Liquitex Matte Gel but any glue that dries fairly quickly will work great.)
Acrylic paints in your favorite colors as well as an opaque white (I like Titanium White by Golden or Liquitex) and a black or other favorite dark neutral color.
OPTIONAL:
An apron because this class can get messy!
Chipboard or framing mat scraps to cut shapes from. Scrap cardboard like cereal or cracker box cardboard will work great too. Pre-cut chipboard elements like found here. IMPORTANT NOTE: Very fine detail in any pre-cut shapes will be greatly diminished in the process we will explore in this class so if you want to incorporate pre-cut shapes, I recommend looking for more general shapes with less tiny detail or be okay with some of that detail being obscured.
Other somewhat 3-dimensional found objects to incorporate.
Any other materials you love using to add details or personal marks to your work: paint pens, metal leaf, etc. NOT required but can be fun.
To pre-order supplies, click on this link for Runaway Art and Craft Studio...