Ofrenda – Dia de Los Muertos In-Store Class Oct 22

Ofrenda – Dia de Los Muertos In-Store Class
Sunday, October 22, 1-4pm
Instructor: Sylvie Abecassis
Limit: 7 students. All participants must be 15 years or older.

Class Details:

Dia de los Muertos, a high-spirited Mexican holiday literally exploding with color, is one of our very favorite holidays. The strict English translation is “Day of the Dead”. Despite the name, it’s an exuberant and joyous celebration of life. Revelers believe that it’s the one time each year that souls of the departed can return from the afterworld to visit those they left behind. The holiday is a time for food, drink, lively music, parties, and the activities the spirits enjoyed in life. An important part of the celebration is decorating small personal altars, called ofrendas, with colorful flowers and mementos. 

Create one of your own in memory of a loved one or a favorite pet. Or, in the tradition of painted sugar skulls and whimsical skeletons, make something more playful. Mixed media artist Sylvie Abecassis has sourced some small wooden shrines for you to use. Start out by painting your ofrenda with water-based acrylic paints, or collage it. While it’s drying, decide on embellishments for the exterior and plan out what offerings to arrange inside. 

Sylvie has assembled an eclectic array of found objects and ephemera for you to work with: skull beads, butterflies, colorful flowers, small wooden forms, birds, miniature food, sparkly stuff, paper scraps for creating papel picado banners, and other bits and pieces. Feel free to bring in your own images, photos, and ephemera to combine with what’s provided. As Sylvie says, “Putting in all the offerings is the fun stuff”!

On Friday, September 29th from 2-5pm, Two Hands Paperie presents an exclusive appearance from Sylvie's tiny circus, part of #the100dayproject, for an awe-inspiring spectacle that's not to be missed!

COVID Safety
Due to the limited size of the classroom, social distancing will not be possible. Attendees of the class are welcome to wear masks. Help keep community members and our staff safe, please do not attend the class if you are feeling sick. Please contact twohandsclasses@gmail.com ahead of time if you have specific questions regarding class covid safety.

Class Materials

Please bring the following materials:

• Optional: images, photos, and small mementos such as a pin or piece of jewelry, a fishing lure, a pet’s tags, doll-sized miniatures like a tea cup or favorite food – just about anything. When gathering items, Keep in mind that the interior of the wooden shrine is about 5” tall x 4” wide x 1-¼” deep.
• Optional: one central important image about 2.5 x 3.5” if you want to put it in a frame in your ofrenda.
• Optional: favorite pair of scissors for small cutting

Class Materials Include:

• Small wood shrine and wood beads for feet
  
• Acrylic paints and brushes, water containers, paper towels, etc
• Found objects, Dia de los Muertos objects, ephemera, etc
  
• Decorative paper scraps for collage

Class Refund/Cancellation Policy

Cancellations made up to 14 days prior to the first class meeting will be refunded or, at the participant's option, used to pay for another class. Two Hands Paperie will retain a $10 processing fee for EACH class cancelled by a participant. After 14 days, there is no refund or credit. In addition, the fee for a class cancelled within this 14-day timeframe by a participant cannot be transferred to pay for another class. These policies are to ensure that teachers are compensated for their investment in materials and in time spent preparing for the class. We reserve the right to cancel a class if fewer than 3 students enroll 48 hours prior to the scheduled class time. If for any reason Two Hands Paperie cancels a class, students will be called at the phone number on file and refunded the FULL class fee.

Instructor Bio

Sylvie Abecassis is a Denver-based designer/illustrator and mixed media artist with an affinity for paper and clay and a love of tiny dioramas. To see just how tiny and wonderfully imaginative her work is, check out her recent 100 Day Project #welcometomytinycircus. She created an old-time circus out of small paper ceramic pieces. They capture the magic of a traveling show from the late 1800s/early 1900s. The attention to detail is beyond belief!

Sylvie has worked as an art director, graphic designer, and illustrator for many years, and still freelances. Her love for clay and mixed media began in 2008. Because her graphic design work was digital and presented in printed form, she found she really enjoyed working in 3D for her fine art. She loves experimenting with multiple media.

Dioramas and miniatures particularly fascinate Sylvie. To create a diorama effect for each of her hand-built pieces, she uses layers of clay pieces. Each is fired twice, cold glazed, and then hand painted before she assembles them together into a complex and meaningful piece of art. Her love of color and illustration is evident in everything she does. She calls her work ceramic illustration because it combines both ceramics and illustration.