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This article is written by Jan Murphy of Wild at Heart Studios

In the Fall of 2012, Wild at Heart Studios, in the lovely town of Friday Harbor, Washington, held a workshop entitled “Chiarscurro Circus”. It was hosted by two well-known mixed-media artists, Lynne Perrella and Anne Bagby, for four days of amazing creativity and fun.

Twenty four students from across the U.S. and Canada attended the workshop where they learned a wide variety of techniques to create lavish backgrounds and vibrant face focal points using oil crayons, ephemera, and hand-made stencils and stamps.  They explored images of clowns, jesters, theatrical ceremonial figures and more.

“Chiaroscuro” (key-ah-squoor-oh) is an artful term that encompasses the dramatic contrast of light and dark and everyone left with several pieces of gorgeous art!. A great time was had by all.

To find out more about Wild at Heart’s upcoming workshop, visit their website.