“The da Vinci Mode”

Free Pastel Painting Workshop

Saturday, June 14, 2008

11 a.m.- 1 p.m.

     Medway Public Library (Cole Rm)

Presented by award winning artist, Gregory John Maichack. The New Art of Pastel Painting: The da Vinci Mode, a free pastel painting workshop is designed for adults and teens, from sheer beginners to advanced participants. Please call (508) 533-3217 to pre-register for this free class. Bring a photo/image of a landscape to work from. All supplies provided.
    

From the perspective of Leonardo da Vinci’s working methods, participants will receive an engaging hands-on experience of pastel painting with beginning to advanced techniques. A special technique of Leonardo da Vinci’s called sfumato, a term he coined, will be thoroughly explained and demonstrated. Special pastels to achieve this ethereal effect will be provided. Participants will freely experiment with hundreds of artist’s professional grade hard and soft pastels and professional pastel paper. Beginners to accomplished artists benefit, side-by-side, in this pastel painting workshop.
     Maichack, nominated twice for a Massachusetts Gold Star Program Award, will individually demonstrate the essentials of painting with pastels, and he will display his original pastel artwork to illustrate his talk. His demo of expressive pastel painting shows how to achieve luminous color and volume, how to structure an engaging composition, and tips on creating impact. All will receive help tailored to their projects, whether landscapes, still-life, or portraiture.
     Mr. Maichack’s workshops have been so well-liked, many libraries and senior centers have booked and rebooked him, often twice a year. “What I heard through students’ comments reflects a teaching style that is rare: encouraging, positive and constructive, with information given in a style that students find approachable, accessible, and clear,” wrote Melinda Georgeson, Director of Education, Norman Rockwell Museum.
     Artist Gregory John Maichack lives in Holyoke, MA. He is a portraitist and painter working primarily in pastels. Winner of the Award of Merit from the Bennington Center for the Arts: Impressions of New England Show 2003, he also was awarded the Savoir-faire Pastel Award from the Great Lakes Pastel Society. He has been in many national juried shows and awarded numerous MA Cultural Council grants. In addition to portraiture, his still lifes and landscapes are represented by galleries from Kennenbunkport, ME to San Francisco, CA. Maichack is a faculty member of the Quadrangle Museum Studio School at the Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, MA. He also teaches at Greenfield and Holyoke Community Colleges in their adult continuing education departments. 

Mr. Maichack is presently accepting requests to do portraits and commissioned pastel paintings. Please call (413) 532-3667 or e-mail: EmJay7@aol.com. Visit his web site: www.GregoryMaichack.com. 

This project is provied, in part, by a grant from the Medway Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.