New Art Classes and Workshops at Sedona Arts Center

From ceramics and painting to photography, encaustics, and more — our upcoming classes and workshops offer something for every artist. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to expand your skills, join us in the studio or online and be part of Sedona’s creative community.

Discover the power of color and design in your art.
In this dynamic, hands-on workshop, artist and educator Mark Eanes guides you through an immersive exploration of the essential principles of color, design, and abstraction. You’ll learn to create compositions that sing with balance, energy, and harmony—while developing your own unique visual voice.

Mark’s approach is both practical and inspiring. His mantra — Knowledge + Craft = Freedom — helps artists move past fear and uncertainty to embrace experimentation, expression, and personal growth. Through guided exercises, lively discussion, and individual feedback, participants will learn how to build stronger compositions and richer color relationships across all styles—figurative or abstract.

Whether you’re looking to refine your technique or reignite your creativity, this workshop will expand how you see, think, and paint.

🎥 Watch Mark discuss his process and teaching philosophy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwMLJcCr26I

What You’ll Learn:

• The seven compositional elements: line, shape, color, value, mass, space, texture

• The seven principles of design: balance, visual weight, emphasis, hierarchy, direction, simplicity, unity

• Color theory, mixing, and relationships — hue, value, and saturation

• How to understand abstraction and see all art through its underlying structure

• Strategies for combining design and composition through engaging visual exercises

Register early — space is limited.

Encaustic Workshop — This three-day workshop introduces participants to the luminous medium of encaustic, created from molten beeswax, resin, and pigment. You’ll learn application and manipulation techniques in a safe, supportive environment while exploring the serendipity of the process. The class includes en plein air sketching for inspiration, demonstrations, guided instruction, discussion of the history and contemporary uses of encaustic, and dedicated time to create your own works with group critiques.

Learn how to create bold and vibrant landscapes in soft pastel through a step-by-step process designed to simplify and build confidence. Each step begins with an instructor demonstration, followed by student practice, group discussion, and individual feedback. Students will start by breaking down the scene into basic shapes and value masses to create a strong composition from a provided reference photo, then move on to exploring color relationships for both the underpainting and layered pastel. Instruction will emphasize the painterly handling of pastels to develop an impressionistic style landscape, allowing students to work at their own pace, with the possibility of completing more than one painting depending on experience and speed. All levels are welcome, though the course is especially suited for beginner to intermediate pastel artists.

Discover the joy of painting with Bob Burridge! Learn how to turn colorful splashes into vibrant abstract florals and paint loose, spontaneous landscapes with confidence. Explore reductive techniques, vase shapes, stems, water, and Bob’s favorite landscape compositions — all with his fearless, supportive approach.

Plenty of demos, painting time, critiques, and inspiration for all levels. Handouts included.

In this one-day workshop, participants will use slab construction as the foundation for exploring the expressive nature of the human face while learning techniques for building a realistic adult head. Through anatomical lessons and demonstrations of the nose, eyes, mouth, ears, hair, and neck, you’ll gain essential skills in proportion, scale, balance, and expression. Each student will begin work on a life-size human head with a neck and hair—while a finished piece is not expected, you’ll leave with the knowledge and instruction needed to refine and complete it afterward. This workshop is open to all levels, with limited enrollment to ensure personalized attention. Clay is provided by Sedona Arts Center, and students should bring basic clay tools, a bucket, spray bottle, rolling pin, and paddle, as well as reference images or anatomy materials for inspiration. Optional items like turntables and mirrors are helpful but not required.

This workshop will focus on enhancing the artists’ knowledge and landscape painting skills in gouache. Deepen your understanding of the medium, from its unique properties to essential tools including supports, brushes and mediums. We will explore key aspects of compositions and color strategies to harness the full potential of gouache. Instructor demos will help you grasp the techniques behind crafting vibrant engaging paintings. Whether working from Sedona photo references or your own inspiration, you will receive personalized guidance to build confidence in using gouache outdoors or in your studio practice.

Create your own wearable art with silver clay! Joan Roberts, a jewelry artist with 20+ years of experience, will guide you through techniques, methods, and insider tips for success.

This two-morning class gives you time to design, fire, and polish up to two pairs of earrings or a pendant. No prior metalwork or clay experience needed — beginners welcome!

This workshop will focus on developing dynamic three-dimensional works using subtle color and value shifts. We will work on developing the feeling of distance in the landscape and cover some basics of color theory, how to use hard and soft edges and directional brushwork to achieve the results you are looking for in your work. We will be working from photographs, supplied by the instructor or you can work from your own references. The instructor will give plenty of one-on-one guidance.

This workshop is an invitation to expand your imagination, to explore, and to unleash your creativity under the guidance of lifelong artist and creative powerhouse Patricia Saxton. Patricia will inspire, help you break barriers, and share techniques for elevating your artistic repertoire. Beginners as well as experienced artists are embraced. Primarily using acrylics, pastels and/or watercolors, fun is encouraged, and getting messy is welcome! Your time together will include live demonstrations, insights, prompts and exercises, questions and answers, and plenty of personal attention.

Are you drawn to the beauty and versatility of pastel but don’t know where to start?  This crash course is for you. We will have pastel demonstrations, exercises, and plenty of at-easel encouragement.  Learn how to block in a design, underpaint using a wet wash, experiment with a variety of pastel surfaces and materials.  With an emphasis on achieving correct values, colors, and shapes you will create an exciting floral still life and leave the workshop with skills to begin your pastel journey.

Learn to capture the beauty of light in this two-day workshop! Betty teaches students to accurately portray the effect of light on any subject in watercolor. Students will explore a variety of locations in beautiful Sedona.

Betty begins each day with a demonstration/ lecture covering tools, techniques, brushwork, problems and solutions. Emphasis throughout the workshop is on organization and simplification of darks and lights, value and color relationships, edges, movement and mass to create a dynamic, coherent composition.

In today’s digital age, your iPhone can be more than just a phone — it’s a camera, an editing studio, and a powerful creative tool. Join photographer and artist Kelli Klymenko for a one-day workshop designed for both beginners and advanced users.

Learn how to turn everyday moments into striking works of art with nothing more than your iPhone. This hands-on class covers breathtaking landscapes, expressive portraits, and up-close macro photography — plus the editing apps and techniques that will take your images to the next level.

Everyone loves birds! Simple shapes and bold colors are what we focus on when learning how to collage songbirds and blooms. I will teach you how to transfer a sketch from your reference photo, create a comprehensive underpainting with shading and a background, how to gel print your own papers, and how to apply collage! At the end of this three day workshop, you will have the skills and confidence to create your own Paper Painting!

This workshop is a comprehensive class in which students are taught a unique figurative collage technique. Emphasis will be on developing form using light, shadow, and directional ripping– very similar to traditional painting techniques. No prior collage experience is necessary. Some painting experience would be helpful, but not imperative.

Paint looser and more confidently during this 3-day workshop with Oregon artist Sarah Sedwick! Take a step-by-step approach to alla prima oil painting, from black-and-white studies to brilliant color. Build a beautiful composition with life and movement, get a new perspective on the still life, and learn tips for bringing inspiration to your home studio practice.

You’ll learn the fundamentals of good design, creating sketches and value studies to plan a composition that works. Using a split-primary palette as your color foundation – two reds, two yellows, and two blues – you’ll do quick, fun exercises to focus on loosening up your brushwork before creating a finished piece.

For more scholarship information, policy updates and to apply: CLICK HERE

Our mission is to connect, enrich, educate and lead through the inspiring power of the arts and creative discovery.

Sedona Arts Center (SAC) is a cornerstone of Northern Arizona’s cultural community and serves as the creative heart of Sedona. Founded in 1958, this nonprofit organization is based in Uptown Sedona and offers year-round classes, exhibitions, festivals, and cultural events that enrich the artistic life of the Verde Valley.

NO SALES TAX – FREE PARKING – UPTOWN SEDONA
Sedona Arts Center is a 501(c)3 organization that offers all purchases without sales tax (an almost a 10% savings!)

SedonaArtsCenter.org