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Want to learn about Word-and-Image Relationships?

Right now I am teaching students at Lesley University about word-and-image. It is my graduating student seminar and the culmination of both diligent research and a personal passion. We live in a visually engaged society and creative people of all kinds would do well to look into the future. Where are we headed? I believe part of that answer includes multi-genre, multi-media, and multi-medium artwork and collaborations.

If you would like to attend one of my workshops or bring them to your city or center, please email me at info@alexismariechute.com. Here is the information about my word-and-image seminar:

 The Art of Writing: Exploring Word-and-Image Pairings in Contemporary Literature

By Alexis Marie Chute

Is a picture really worth a thousand words? What happens when imagery and text combine?

In an age of visual communication, it is important for writers to reflect on the dynamic relationship between words and images. In this interactive seminar we will discuss the ways writers might capitalize on visual material to strengthen their craft. We will explore the word-image relationships in children’s books, graphic novels, hybrid novels, photograph/art books, magazines, comics, literary journals and advertisements. Through these discussions, students will learn strategies for pairing words and images, observe what works and what doesn’t, and be inspired to expand the scope of their own writing projects – whether they include visual elements or not.

Alexis Marie Chute word and image copyright workshop blog

Writers of any genre will benefit from this workshop.

Please come prepared to write and flex your creative muscles.

No artistic abilities needed.   

Healing by the Creative Arts

Through making my art, I discovered art therapy in a natural, organic way. No one told me to try it to help me heal. I wasn’t recommended a set of exercises to do in order to find myself. I just sat down in my studio with a pile of small woodcuts and got started without any direction or even conscious intent. The first wood sculpture I made I named The Quiet Rebuild and it was the beginning of that larger body of work.

Since then I have looked into the theory of art therapy and find it very stimulating and thoughtful for me in my professional art practice. In one of the semesters of my MFA I took an art therapy class as an interdisciplinary option and found it deepened my perspectives on art and healing. It gave me a new dimension in making, reflecting on and contextualizing my work. Since then the wood sculptures in The Quiet Rebuild grew to incorporate portraits of real people sharing their stories of resilience.

Now I am honoured to teach about the restorative potential of creativity. I offer two workshops: 

Healing through Visual Art

Healing through the Written Word

This summer and fall I will be presenting these workshops in Chicago Illinois, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Sherwood Park Alberta and San Antonio Texas. If you are interested in having one or both of these presentations at your conference, event or association, please email me at info@alexismariechute.com

I strongly believe that art must say something that matters. Within my work, I wrestle with the ideas of loss, struggle and survival. You can read more about my approach in my Artist Statement.

Photoshop Workshop at Harcourt House

Want to crack open the creative possibilities of Photoshop? Have you ever wondered how Photoshop can make your photographs and artwork even better but don’t know where to begin?

Look no further! I will be teaching a Beginners Photoshop Workshop at Harcourt House!

Details:

Saturday, February 16 & Sunday, February 17, 2013   

10am – 3pm (Bring your own lunch and snacks)

Cost: $110 ($80 Harcourt House members – if you are not a member, please consider joining!)

Individual students must bring their own laptop with the newest version of Photoshop installed. Please also have at least 5 images of people and 5 non-people images to edit.

Learn how to make your good photos great through many awesome Photoshop techniques. Want to remove a zit? Brighten a dark photo? Make your image look vintage? We will be covering spot removal, how to adjust exposure, create interesting black & white images, and how to harness the power of Photoshop filters.

Saturday: Editing images of people

Sunday: Editing images without people

There is limited space in the class so register early by calling (780) 426-4180! It is going to be a great weekend of creative play and guided experimentation with results you will be excited about.

The class will be taking place in the Annex, the one story metal building beside the Harcourt House gallery.

Register today!

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Photograph copyright Alexis Marie Chute

Harcourt House

10215 112 Street Northwest

Edmonton, AB T5K 1M7

Find a map here.

‎(780) 426-4180