Medium: Students will be working in hard and soft pastels with wet underpainting. Photo references and a still life will be provided.
Materials: Students should refer to the class materials list.
Registration: Each student needs to enroll individually.
Location: Sedona Arts Center, Theatre Studio in the Art Barn.
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.
Please bring your lunch and a sense of adventure.
25 0418 NT
Nori Thorne
A transplant to Sedona, Nori Thorne now claims the desert Southwest as her home. She is a graduate in Studio Art from University of Pittsburgh and spent a semester at Habib Bourguiba University in Tunisia “painting in the souk and skipping French class.” Nori taught art and art history in Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools where she was the recipient of numerous grants from the Arts and Humanities Council, National Art Education Foundation, and the Fulbright/Hayes Scholarship. An award-winning pastelist, Nori received first place recognition in Tucson Pastel Society’s Juried Exhibition at the Amerind Museum. Other events include inclusion in Pastel Society of America’s Enduring Brilliance 2021, 2022 41st National Western Spirit Exhibition, 2024 99 Voices in Pastel, and 2023 and 2024 Ironwood Gallery Exhibit, Power of Pastels. “Little Red” was juried into the Women Artists of the West’s 54th National Exhibition at the Phippen Museum in 2024. She was a featured artist in Art of the West’s July/August 2023 issue. Currently she is working on a series of paintings inspired by ancient ruins and pictographs found in the red rock canyons near Sedona.
Nori is Signature Member, Emerita of the Women Artists of the West, Pastel Society of the West Coast, President of the Arizona Pastel Artists Association and is a juried member of the Pastel Society of America. She is represented by Sedona Arts Center Gallery.
Materials List – students must bring the following with them:
Small sketchbook (used for notans and thumbnail sketches)
9B Pencils and pencil sharpener
Cheap craft watercolor brushes, 1.5” wide, flat
Small selection of Nupastels – the 12 piece assorted set at Dakota Art Pastels is $20.00.
Medium and soft pastels. If you don’t have any, you could purchase Unison’s 8-piece mini set in red/orange ($16.95) and green ($16.95) at Dakota Art Pastels.
We will work on 12 x 16 panels. You can mount your own paper as pre-mounted, sanded panels or you can purchase white 12 x 16 Ampersand Pastelbord ($17.00) at Dakota Art Pastels. I also like Dakota Uart P400 8 Ply Board ($16.50). Bring at least 2 panels to the workshop.
Paper towels
Please note: I will have a selection of hard and soft pastels for you to experiment with and a limited number of pastel panels you can purchase.
Students may register online or call Sedona Arts Center Office at 928-282-3809, Ext 1 or toll free at 866-282-3809 Ext 1.
Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express are accepted or student may pay with cash or check by registering in person during office hours Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5 pm.
In-Person and Online Classes Cancellation
Students must cancel or transfer at least 7 days prior to the first day of class.
If a student cancels or transfers before the 7-day cut-off, a 15% fee will be applied.
If a student cancels within 7 days prior to class, there are no refunds.
If Sedona Arts Center cancels the class for any reason, all payments made will be refunded in full.
Note: If traveling to Sedona, we strongly urge students to purchase refundable airline tickets or travel insurance in case of workshop cancellation due to insufficient enrollment or other unforeseen changes. Sedona Arts Center is not responsible for non-refundable ticket purchases or lodging fees.
Important Message
Sedona Arts Center is not responsible for providing make-up sessions or issuing refunds, credits, or transfers for courses missed as a result of illness, emergencies, or other events beyond our control. There are absolutely no refunds after the cut-off date for any reason, unless Sedona Arts Center has to cancel the workshop, then all fees paid will be refunded in full.
