What happens at a Sculpture Magic Workshop?

The next Sculpture Magic Workshop starts March 16-18, 2012 which is a Friday but most (if not all) of our students will be gathering here late Thursday afternoon for an informal get together and to start in on the learning. We'll go for a no host supper at the local restaurant in Yarrow. After supper we'll come back to the shop and kick things into gear. The workshop starts officially on Friday morning. I unlock the doors to the shop at 8:00 am.

The Sculpting MAGIC Workshop will involve every aspect of our sculpting process from start to finish, from design through to paint. We'll weld some steel frameworks, apply the lath and then each student will try their hand at sculpting fiberglass-reinforced concrete panels in a variety of textures including detailed wood and other textures. Each student will also work up an armature and sculpt a detailed project using Abracadabra Sculpt - a sculpting epoxy. The students will each work on their own project. I'll demonstrate every technique and break the project down into simple, manageable, bite sized pieces showing how even the most complex project isn't all that difficult. Bring your work clothes for this is a hands-on workshop. 

We'll discuss design and the fabrication techniques we use in our shop on a daily basis for projects both large and small. We'll also talk about the ways we use to promote this new kind of work in our world wide marketplace. I will do my best to challenge each student to push their personal boundaries and perceived limits on a daily basis.

Our workshops are held in our studio/shop in Yarrow (Chilliwack), British Columbia, Canada. It's a tiny farming community about 60 miles east of Vancouver. Canada. 

All meals during the workshop will be taken in our shop to minimize waited time and to keep things flowing. We have a lot of ground to cover in the time you will be here. 

We will be taking one or two field trips to look at large scale projects that my team and I have done. Exact schedule will be determined by the weather at the time.

Friday morning the shop doors open at 8:00 am with the teaching officially starting at 9:00 am sharp. Lunch, supper and breaks are provided in the shop. The shop remains open until 11:00 pm.  

Saturday morning the doors open at 8:00 am. We start officially at 9:00 am once more. Lunch, supper and breaks are provided in the shop. After supper we do hands-on projects in the shop.  The shop remains open until 11:00 pm. 

Sunday morning the shop opens at 8:00 am. Lunch is officially the last meal served in the shop. Some will head out after lunch but there are always a few eager students who want to continue. The shop will remain open and we generally do a no host supper at a local restaurant. The shop remains open until 11:00 pm for those who want to stay.

The workshop days are long but exciting. I'll do my best to fill your head to the bursting point and send you home excited to do this kind of work in the future.

There are no prerequsites to attend our workshops. We get beginners and what I would call masters and everything in between. All go away with new ideas and a new found enthusiasm to do similar work in their own shops and studios when they get home.

There's still room for a few more...

-grampa dan

What happens at a Sign Magic Workshop?

Each time I do a post about our workshops I get a flurry of questions about what is covered at one of these events. In this post and the next about the Sculpting workshop I will provide the answers. The workshops are about all this and more, shaped in large part by the attendees themselves.

The workshops are scheduled to start on Firday morning but most of our attendees arrive on Thursday afternoon. They come from near and far, as close as the next town down the road and as far away as Sweden, Germany, Hawaii, and across the USA and Canada. When they arrive they are eager to start with the learning! All are welcome to come by the shop and get the lay of the land and kick off the event.  Thursday is an unofficial time to meet the other attendees and get comfortable in our shop. Attendees are encouraged to take lots of pictures and even begin with the questions. We do a no host supper at the local diner and then come back to the shop. Those who are here begin the process of soaking it all in, asking questions and getting all the information I can possibly share.The shop doors are locked at 11:00 pm for the day.

I unlock the doors Friday and each morning just before 8:00 am...    Classroom time begins at 9:00 Friday and goes until 5:00 each day (with meal and coffee breaks). All meals are home cooked and taken in the shop so we don't waste a minute. After supper it's hands-on time in the shop as late as you can stand it. The doors are open until 11:00 (or so) and then the next morning we do it all over again... for three days in a row.

Our Sign Magic Workshops are held in our studio/shop in Yarrow (Chilliwack), British Columbia.  Its a tiny farming community about 60 miles east of Vancouver, Canada.   The next workshop is scheduled for March 9-11, 2012. Classes are limited to about 14 people.  The upcoming workshop will be the eleventh one we have held here.  We have had folks attend from all across Canada, the USA, Hawaii, Sweden, Germany, and Holland.Information is at www.imaginationcorporation.com/sign-workshops  We also offer a Sculpture Magic Workshop www.imaginationcorporation.com/sculpting-workshop to be held March 16-19, 2012 

The range of abilities and experience of past attendees has been varied, ranging from what I would call masters to those who are just starting.  There are no educational prerequisites to attend.  We work very hard to ensure all who come go away with plenty of new things learned and chock full of inspiration.  We ask all of our attendees to put away what they know (or think they know) and come with an open mind, willing to look at fresh new ways of doing things.  The workshops are planned as a creative journey from my unique perspective in the sign industry.

It starts with brief introductions of attendees and then the journey begins.  First I'll take you down memory lane through my own artistic life, the things that shaped how I think about and create my own work.  The purpose is to show how much we are all the same... how our lives and our work is shaped in a large way by small daily choices we make.  I'll briefly talk of how I discovered CNC routers and learned to make it do the things I wanted.

We spend some classroom time getting into creating files with EnRoute (a 3D routing software).  We start with the basics for the folks just beginning and quickly move to more complex projects in the 3D realm.  I show how everything we do is a series of small steps which eventually form something much more complex.  We generally have a guest instructor from EnRoute to help with the teaching of that portion of the workshop as well. We'll show how we create and use bitmaps to make textures with the router.  I'll also show how combining and subtracting basic shapes can be used to create virtually any form in EnRoute.  We'll cover slicing of objects and the basics of tool pathing for 3D objects.  We generally show how a specific project comes together from first concept through design, on to creating files.  Out in the shop we'll show how we route it, assemble, finish and paint it as the weekend progresses.

I talk of design as it applies to our 3D work, where inspiration comes from and how I put ideas together from the first inkinkling to the finished concept drawing.  I'll show how I use the digital drawing tablet to make our presentations and concept drawings, still drawing by hand but with ultra modern tools. I'll also talk of how we price our work and market ourselves in today's digital world. All of the talks are given from the perspective of what has worked for us in our shop. My talks are not abstract theory or big words - I talk from the heart about real things and real exerience.

In the evenings we start small individual sample projects.  These are to learn hands-on how we finish things once the routing is done.  Faux finishing is first demonstrated  and then our students try it for themselves.  We also do small individual sculpting projects using an epoxy sculpting medium.  It's all about using our imaginations to do things we have never done before.

While all that is going on we also do some demonstrations of how we do our concrete sculpting, from the welded sub-structure, through the mixing of and applying of concrete to the finished caving. Another demonstration project will show how we do our signs, from the sub-structures to assembling , final detailing and finishing.

While the 'official' hours of the workshop are from 9:00 am until 5:00 each day, the workshop really happens from 8:00 am until 11:00 pm (or later) each day and most of the learning happens outside the classroom.  The EnRoute instructor is also available in the non-structured time to go over specific questions each student may have.

We'll take some short field trips too, visiting local projects I've tackled in the last few years. These project visits show how the things we teach are put into effect on real projects.

The workshop is conducted in a setting like no other.  Our studio is located in a rural area and surrounded by breathtaking scenery.  The award winning shop would aptly be described as an artist's theme park with wall to wall eye candy at every turn.  Take all the pictures you want, ask any question you want and we'll do our best to provide the answer.

Through the weekend I give a series of talks, doing my best to challenge each student to push their personal boundaries and limits on a daily basis.  The last formal talk (Sunday morning) is how to 'have fun in the sign business (and life)'. The weekend workshop is designed to build 3D sign making and routing skills and also share how to build a market for this kind of fun work.  It's also my goal to challenge each attendee about how they approach their business and life.  I believe we all have passions and dreams inside us which need to be realized. We all have goals which are achievable through hard work and perseverance. I firmly believe we can do these things while living life to the fullest along the way!

If you have more questions drop me a note.  dan@imaginationcorporation.com

There's still room for a few more...

-grampa dan

Workshops coming FAST!

I was looking at my calendar this morning and saw that the Sign Magic Workshop is now less than eight weeks away. It is coming fast! The Sculpture Magic Workshop is a few days later. These workshops are your chance to learn about everything we do in our shop. It is one thing to read of our imaginative projects here in the blog - quite another to see it all in person and better yet actually try your hand at those same things.

In our workshops I give a series of lectures covering all manners of subjects including design, structure, fabrication, marketing and a whole lot more. We also spend plenty of time out in the shop doing actual hands-on projects. We'll show you how we do everything, then guide you through the process. We supply everything you need. There are no pre-requisites. No matter what your experience level this workshop will change how you think about and do your art from here on in.

 

The workshops are a behind the scenes look in my shop and studio that is full to the brim with examples of my art. See and use the same tools and materials we use. In three long days we cover a whole lot of ground, including some offsite visits some large local projects that our team has done. Most of the meals are provided, taken right in the shop to maximize our time together.

Sign Magic Workshop - March 9-11, 2012   Go to   Sign Workshops

Sculpture Magic Workshop  March 16-18, 2012 Go to Sculpting Workshop

Or if you want more information email me or give me a call. dan@imaginationcorporation.com

The three day workshop is to be held in our studio/workshop 

Sawatzky's Imagination Corporation

42392 Yarrow Central Road

Yarrow (Chilliwack) British Columbia

Canada   V2R 5E2

604 823 2216

-grampa dan