May 13 2014

Sara Petroff of Toronto works with her piece during the encaustic painting course offered at the Fleming College Haliburton Campus as part of the Haliburton School of the Arts. Petroff was one of eight students that was taught by Susan Fisher last year. File photo

By Zach Cox

Bigger and better is how it is done at the Haliburton School of the Arts. A component of the Sir Sandford Fleming College the HSTA campus in Glebe Park is well known for its summer arts program. This year there are 50 new weeklong courses 22 new Saturday workshops and 15 new instructors.
Boasting more than 300 courses and 150 teachers the program offers classes on all sorts of techniques and styles from watercolour painting to felting.
“I think of it as the Disney effect – it’s important to blend the familiar favourites with fresh new options so that people maintain interest” says HTSA program co-ordinator Schelley Schell. With the extensive number of courses offering such a wide selection of art classes all kinds of interests are catered to.

Some of the new course and workshop offerings for this year are negative painting memory quilts thread sketching and painting and yoga paired with painting writing singing drawing and meditation.

“Learn to develop unique images by using the space in and around an object. Create exciting under-paintings and enhance your image with layers lost and found edges and textures. Increase the range of values in your painting moving from light to dark and back again creating the illusion of depth” says the course description for the week-long negative painting class.

There’s a selection of courses for kids too with classes such as kids’ creative kitchen and kids’ metal jewellery arts.
There is just as much variety in regards to instructors as well. Jeff Helmes a graduate of the HSTA Artist Blacksmith certificate program and a new instructor for this year will be teaching the bladesmithing class. Other new instructors are professional singer and songwriter Katherine Wheatley award winning quilt designer and author of two best-selling books and Andy Bullock who has been creating and restoring indigenous beadwork for decades.

Whether you have an interest in painting photography glassblowing or anything in between the HSTA probably has something for you. Regardless of the course you pick you will be learning from a master of the craft.

More information on the Haliburton School of the Arts and the offered courses including a full course calendar and course costs can be found online at flemingcollege.ca.