WORKSHOP “Pretty Vial Things” with Michael deMeng

When I was a kid I loved the idea of magic potions. Remember how Alice drank from the bottle to become very very tall, and of course Dr. Jekyll turned into his hairy eye-browed buddy Mr. Hyde the same way…different recipe apparently. There must be some very interesting mojo in those little containers …some good…some not so good. In this class we are not going to be making the elixirs (that might be illegal in some states) but rather we are going to be designing the little bottles that house these strange liquids. We will be using various assemblage techniques to create some pretty vial things; part of the fun is deciding what they are going to hold and coming up with the appropriate housing. Whether it for turning into hairy monsters (which comes in handy), a potion for invisibility (also very handy), or a place to store the water from the fountain of youth (send me two right away), the containers will be as rich and strange as the contents. Down the hatch!
BIO: My work is about transformations. It is about the transformation of the common into the sacred. Discarded materials find new and unexpected uses in my work; they are reassembled and conjoined with unlikely components, a form of rebirth from the ashes into new life and new meaning. These assemblages are metaphors for the evolutions and revolutions of existence: from life to death to rebirth, from new to old to renewed, from construction to destruction to reconstruction. These forms are examinations of the world in perpetual flux, where meaning and function are ever-changing.                                       http://www.michaeldemeng.com
Supply List:

1. A couple of empty bottles. They can be made out of anything and can be any size or shape. Even simple bottles can be turned into something bizarre.
2. Variety of found objects that might be interesting additions to the vial. Items like watch parts, gears, typewriter parts….just about anything, really. Milagros, bolts, pieces of old metal, straps of leather…anything.
3. Mesh, scraps of burlap, or cloth can make for nice decorative coverings
4. Collage elements
5. 1/4lb Aves Apoxy Clay (non toxic epoxy putty) OR Free-Form Sculpt (if you’re in the Vancouver area Fiber-Tek in Burnaby carries this).  

6. Paint Brushes (a couple small detail brushes, and some cheap brushes (1/2 inch to 1 inch in size)
7. String, twine and wire (a couple of different smaller gauges)
8. Basic Tools…pliers, scissors,
9. Matte Medium – fluid
10. Paint (acrylic…preferably Golden brand…either fluid or heavy body will work) small tubes will
    1. Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold
    2. Black (Mars or Carbon)
    3. Titanium White
    4. Pthalo Blue (red shade)
    5. Dioxazine Purple
    6. Van Dyke Brown
    7. Quinacridone Crimson
11. Optional Paints
    1. Transparent Brown Iron Oxide
    2. Azurite Hue
    3. Quinacridone Magenta
12. smattering of screws, bolts, nails (different sizes)
13. Adhesives.
    1. Dap Kwik Seal Plus (white)- get this at the hardware store (you can also use molding or modeling paste)
    2. E6000

Student registration BEGINS Sept 21, 2013