FLAX Art + Design Store Workshops - Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture

FLAX Art Workshops Presented By FLAX Art & Design Store

Join FLAX Art & Design Store for affordable, hands-on workshops covering a variety of art materials, processes, and techniques.

EVENT FEATURES

Sign up for fun, inexpensive weekend workshops led by skilled artists from local communities at the FLAX Art & Design Store .

The Lascaux Acrylics Workshop on Thursday, August 27, 2026, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. introduces Lascaux Artist Colors and the Sirius Primary System color mixing techniques.

For Saturday, September 26, 2026, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Pigment Stick and Drawing Oils demonstration with artist Sharon Paster offers a relaxed environment where participants can learn about and test-drive these incredibly pigmented and fun oil-based paints.

R&F Oil Pigment Sticks allow artists to explore traditional and alternative methods of painting with oil by allowing them to draw or paint directly onto a surface with immediacy and fluidity. R&F Drawing Oils offer a smooth and portable drawing experience with a harder formulation using more wax. Similar to oil pastels or crayons, the Drawing Oils dry to form a permanent, protective film, with no need for fixative.

Topics covered include: what differentiates Pigment Sticks from Drawing Oils (proportion of pigment, wax and linseed oil); transparent vs. opaque colors; drying times; health and safety when working with Pigment Sticks; appropriate supports and tools; monoprinting and mark making; and additional techniques (the use of cold wax, gel plates, etc.).

Sharon Paster lives and works in Marin County, where she maintains a studio at ICB/Art in Sausalito. She is a semi-abstract painter who uses oil pigment sticks almost exclusively in her work, which explores the idea of permanence vs impermanence. Grounded elements contrast with fluid ones, resulting in images that are simultaneously static and dissolving, solid and ethereal.

Her paintings have been featured in such publications as Luxe Magazine, House Beautiful, and San Francisco Magazine. She has been shown at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, San Jose’s Institute of Contemporary Art and the San Francisco DeYoung Museum Open among others,and is represented by a number of galleries across the U.S.