Welcome to Tara Larsen Chang!

Welcome to our newest instructor, Tara Larsen Chang! Tara will start teaching at Cloud 9 in July, bringing new sketching classes, watercolors and color pencils to our school. And we are thrilled!

Tara's work has been featured in books, magazines, specialty publications, packaging, educational software, zoos, and galleries.

Her line up of workshops at Cloud 9 includes:

SUMMER JOURNALING FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Saturday July 7 10:00am - 4:00pm

Spend a day exploring beautiful, mixed media record keeping of whatever is important to you this season: gardening, traveling, cooking, crafting, etc.  Develop a structure, explore techniques and make your own pictorial documentation of what you are most passionate about this summer. See samples and demonstrations, and spend lots of hands on time playing with different approaches and ideas in a relaxed, exploratory atmosphere.
 

PEACH, PENCIL, PAINT FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Saturday August 11 10:00am - 4:00pm

Capture a moment of summer by creating a seasonal fruity piece that combines watercolor and colored pencil.  Boost your base colors with a watercolor underlayer, and then we will go to town with details, texture and enriched colors using colored pencil techniques on top of our watercolor, creating a vibrant mixed-media painting.  We will talk about possibilities for backgrounds, how to utilize value and cover a teeny bit of color theory.
 

AUTUMN LEAVES FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Saturday October 6 10:00am - 4:00pm

Exploring space and textures in watercolor. Come for a day of creating beautiful abstract textures and backgrounds that can then be transformed into autumn-themed subjects through positive and negative painting. We’ll also explore color dominance, contrast and edge treatments. These techniques work equally well for those who like to experiment playfully and those who prefer a more detailed approach to their paintings.
 

Mixed Media Story-Telling 
Fridays 1:00Pm - 3:30pm
September 28 - November 2

Ready to move beyond your literal reference to create the more fantastical images in your head? Over the next 6 weeks we will discuss and work through how to generate ideas, how to refine them into strong compositions, create value and color comprehensive studies, and ways we can pull that all together, using whatever mediums or combination of media best express our unique vision.
 

OPEN STUDIO 
Fridays 10:00am - 12:30pm
Ongoing (starts September 28)

Bring whatever art projects you are working on, as well as your questions, and receive personal attention and feedback to help you move forward. Tara will also provide demonstrations on various media ranging from watercolor, colored pencil, mixed media, collage, graphite, and even a touch of digital. A consistent art practice is one of the most effective ways to up your skill, and your enjoyment levels!

In Tara's own words:

I’m an artist and compulsive gardener living in the lushly temperate Pacific Northwest.  From my earliest memories, I’ve been captivated by the imagery in fairy tales and couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather do when I grew up than create my own. When I’m not painting in the studio, I can probably be found working in my gardens to make sure there are plenty of havens for visiting fairies.

 Drawing inspiration from the mossy forests, my magical backyard gardens, my feisty menagerie of animals, childhood books, music and poetry, I love filling my sketchbooks and paintings with elements of nature and mystery. While I work primarily in watercolor, I also enjoy mixing in other mediums from colored pencil and pastel to pressed leaves and cut paper.

A professional illustrator with a BFA in Design and Illustration, I have illustrated more than 30 published books.  My work has been featured in magazines, specialty publications, packaging, educational software, zoos and galleries. I have over 25 years of teaching experience. My career has also included time spent as designer, art director, fine artist, instructor, curator, and workshop facilitator. 

You can see more of my work on my website (as well as view lists of clients I’ve worked for and exhibits I’ve participated in), Facebook, and Instagram. 

For more information and to register please visit my website at TaraLarsenChang.com or email me at tlchang@taralarsenchang.com.