Handmade books can be beautiful works of art, telling stories with visual impact instead of words. San Francisco illustrator and fine artist Lisa Congdon will lead a series of two classes on how to make colorful, personalized, art-filled accordion books from scratch. Lisa regularly makes and exhibits accordion books as part of her practice.

Lisa’s fans may be surprised to learn she didn’t dedicate herself to art until 2007. She comes from a family of creative people and has been making things with her hands since she was very small, but she did not begin painting or drawing until she was in her early 30’s. Once she started, she hasn’t stopped, and, for the past 12 years, she has been drawing, painting and cutting paper nearly every day. Lisa’s vast catalog of work is typically themed around her passion for nature, geometrics and folk pattern. In 2011, she had her first major solo show at Gallery Hijinks in San Francisco, and her work was recently shown in the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Lisa’s illustration clients include Random House, Chronicle Books, Target, Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster, Land of Nod, American Greetings, Urban Outfitters, Running Press, and Trader Joe’s. Lisa is also a prolific collector of old and unusual things. In 2010, she chronicled all of her collections in her Collection A Day 2010 Project, now a book. She lives in the Mission District of San Francisco with her partner, her 11-pound Chihuahua and two cats, and works at her studio several blocks from her home. She’s an avid cyclist, swimmer and vegan.

photo credit: Leslie Sophia Lindell

Daring Adventures In Paint, taught by Mati McDonough, will be a fun exploration, suitable to painters of all levels. We’ll explore easy ways to layer paint, play with lush color, make daring choices and learn to trust your own voice in the process.

Just shy of her 30th birthday, Mati went back to art school to study painting and illustration at the California College of the Arts. She made art from the time she was very little growing up in Maine but never considered herself an artist until recently. Now at 36, Mati has had over a dozen art shows, taught painting classes in Italy, Santa Cruz, Utah and Oregon and online. She has had her art and illustrations used for Patagonia, University Games, Flip Cameras, Calypso Cards and is represented by Lilla Rogers Studio in Illustration and Licensing. This past year she had several big dreams come true of illustrating 2 children’s books, publishing her own painting book: Daring Adventures In Paint, and opening up a magic art studio called Teahouse in Berkeley where she spends most of her days.

(photo credit: Leslie Sophia Lindell)

Is your creative muse lurking within the camera? Join Alessandra Cave in one (or all three!) of her classes on becoming one with your camera.

Alessandra is a photographer with a gypsy heart. Currently, she splits time between commercial photography, teaching assignments, penning and shooting books and caring for her baby daughter, her “biggest creative achievement to date!” Alessandra is also the creator of Gypsy Girls Guide, a resource for women interested in travel and a bohemian lifestyle, and she served as a contributor to Shutter Sisters, an inspiring community of women photographers.
Alessandra holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design and she worked for over 10 years as a visual effects producer for feature films and commercials. In 2009 Alessandra kissed the cubicle goodbye to pursue her dream of working as a professional photographer. She is completely self-taught, and she is passionate about inspiring and empowering women to pick up the camera and follow their creative passion.

Anne Weil fell in love with knitting at the age of 7, when she completed her first sweater – a fuzzy blue cardigan, cozy and warm, albeit a little short in the sleeves.  She hasn’t stopped knitting since.  Anne delights in creating new knitting patterns, especially for children in a simple and classic style.  She adores sharing her love of knitting with others. Though teaching knitting in her hometown of Boulder makes her happy, Anne relishes the idea of a long weekend full of knitting and learning, and hopes you will too.  As a busy mother of three, Anne loves finding creative moments in her studio to sew, knit, crochet, craft and photograph her handmade lovelies.