What exactly IS a shaman? Well, basically, a shaman is an individual who has access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent (and sometimes, malevolent) spirits. They are the world's mystics who travel through altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with the world beyond the physical and act as a channel of transcendental energies into this one.

In this workshop, students will attempt to capture some of the ephemeral essence of these magical beings in a relatively easy, but very well-built, and aesthetically evocative figural assemblage totem.

While chatting and discussing the different shamanic traditions from around the world, students will cut, drill and fasten wooden components to fashion a rock-solid frame, build poseable limbs, and put a cool head from a doll, an animal skull, or some other headpiece that may have meaning in your sprit world on the top. After that, I will share with you, my process for approaching all figure-building, with the hopes that I can your "artist shaman" for the day, and teach you how to use the power of the shaman to open new creative doors of endless possibility. To wrap up, we'll accessorize our shamans with some found objects, chains, charms, and/or strings of cool beads and cool stuff! Lots of room for individual expression upon the basic form here, and there are plenty of techniques to expand your skill set, as well as some new ways of thinking about how composition and construction work together in a piece of art.
 

Materials Fee $25 paid at beginning of class includes:

wood base
 dowels
 armature wire
 epoxy clay
 screws, nuts, & bolts as needed
 tape, glue, paint as needed
 an assortment of scrap fabric, trim, string, ribbon, beads, charms, found objects, and other stuff to swap and share.

Supplies Needed  to bring for Class:

one skull (or a cool doll head, or other meaningful object)
a good pair of scissors for fabrics
a medium sized paintbrush,
an assortment of favorite fabric scraps, trim, string, ribbon, beads, charms, found objects, and any other mystical materials to swap and share.