Workshops
Workshops Overview
Below are some of the workshops I have run in the past. If you want to see more, go to previous classes
You can either form a group yourself and request a workshop or let me know what workshop you would like. I will tell you when I have enough people. Please complete an expression of interest form.
My Background
I, Naomi, the artist, and teacher at Wonkie Knee Art Academy, have a Bachelor of Visual communications (Illustration Design) and a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary, Art Methods). As well as completing a Certificate IV in trainer and assessor, and Certificate IV in small business.
My other love is teaching Karate, and I have been doing so for the past 14 years. In my instruction of martial arts and during rounds as an art teacher, I recognised that I love teaching in a holistic, inclusive, student focused manner. In my karate classes, I teach students from 5 – 80+ years young and I have beginners to black belts and beyond in the same class. I find this environment to be more reflective of society and much more beneficial to the students, providing opportunities to learn, lead, mentor, interact, socialise, and experience people of different ages, abilities and walks of life in one classroom.
I make a conscious effort to tailor what I am teaching to the way a student learns. Through art and creativity, I create a platform to learn about the world, and show my students how art and other subjects are interconnected. It is my aim to meet each person where they are at and encourage them to find their own creativity, doing this through making art and learning techniques, with the freedom to explore and experiment. I believe art teaches us life skills, introducing us to problem solving, perseverance, patience, and tools for good mental health.
I look forward to creating art with you.
Naomi
Some of my workshops
This is a four week course that explores different modalities of drawing. It includes
- drawing games – which explore imagination, medium, and techniques
- drawing cartoons which will teach the students about shapes and proportions
- drawing faces will encourage the students to observe a subject matter and understand dimensions
This is a four week course that explores the techniques of Acrylic painting. The students will learn how to mix and apply paint in a variety of different ways. Students will learn acrylic painting techniques and how to recreate an artwork from a photo.
This is a four week course in which the students will explore the idea of repurposed art. The students will create artwork from found items, magazines, paper, material any ‘rubbish’ items. This is a chance for the students to think outside of the box, and explore themes of reuse, recycle, repurpose, our environment, climate, waste, conservation and how we impact our world.
Students are required to collect discarded items that interest them, this could be ‘rubbish’, ‘waste’, ‘excess’ such as straws, plastic containers, old newspapers, cards, posters, material etc.
In this class we will be exploring sculpture by creating your very own buddy using a 500-600ml plastic bottle, Papier-mâché, plaster, paint, material and wool.
After we have created the base of our figure, we will be painting it, creating hair, clothes and other accessories to complete our character.
Drawing Doodles explores Zentangle, Zendoodle, Mandalas and Doodle Art. These drawing methods have a meditative quality to them as well as the freedom to just sit within the few rules, if any, and then see where they can take you. They can also be used to calm the mind, as tools to reduce anxiety or stress and are a fantastic way to pass the time.
Paper art explores the art of paper. This unit is a four week unit and includes
- Moving origami – the students will make an origami firework, it is like a paper fidget spinner
- Paper making – learning about the history of paper and how to make paper
- Paper mosaic – using the home made paper and paint to create a mosaic
- Paper sculpture – the students will create an 3D paper artwork.
This introduction course is based around the topic of flora (plants) and fauna (animals). It is a 5 week course including Australian origami animals, a collaborative Sandala or nature mandalas (depending on weather) and Biome collage.
In the last two weeks we learn ceramics hand building techniques of slip, score, pinch, coil and slab building. The students are encouraged to explore their imagination and creativity to create a sculpture from clay that can be a succulent pot, a keep-sake container, a water dish for their pet, or anything their heart desires.
Have a go at folding some origami of your choice, try a traditional Crane or have a go at some Australian Animals from Turtles to Thylacines.
A four week course learning about Australian animals and plants through art.