Doris Charest

I am so thankful to ISEA for choosing me as one of the 2024 scholarship recipients! This scholarship is really helping me with my current series. I'm especially grateful for the chance to work with Pierre Leichner, a Vancouver artist who, like me, focuses on the environment and nature. Pierre is mentoring me through Zoom, and I’m excited to challenge how I approach my art and develop my process.

Working with Pierre, who is known for using alternative materials and exploring the environment in his work, is something I truly appreciate. Our sessions will focus on expanding my current art practice and learning how to market my latest series.

So far, I'm really intrigued by Pierre's suggestions, like trying out cyanotypes. These mentoring sessions are opening up new ways for me to experiment with my art. I'm so thankful for this flexible, self-directed opportunity to grow as an artist.

Alisa Clark

In the class titled "Collage Mixed Media: Paint, Cut, Paste," I combined a variety of materials and techniques to create narratives that were new and exciting for me. Kendra Postma, the instructor, shared her process of layering paint, paper, and various found images to create collages with great depth and texture. This opened new possibilities for visual storytelling, challenging me to think outside the box.

Kendra’s demonstrations for working with a Gelli plate allowed me to create layered textures and prints. I explored reverse printing and layering transparent colors, which enhanced the overall dimensionality of my pieces. My favorite “take away” was creating monoprints on tissue paper and then incorporating them into my collage work. I love the way printed tissue can be used to add depth and complexity to my collage work. This process also allows me to soften edges and blend elements seamlessly.

The struggle for a more refined creative process is real, but exposure to fellow artists and their processes helps me better meet this challenge. This class gave me tools for refining my skills and effectively integrating diverse elements so that I can create a more cohesive body of work. Thank you, ISEA and Kendra, for making this rich learning experience possible.

It is an honor to be a recipient of the 2024 ISEA Scholarship. Thank you! 

The scholarship award has been applied to two classes via Fiber Arts Two. 

I am in the process of taking Wen Redmond’s Embrace the Journey workshop and Cordula Kagemann’s Process and Possibilities-Connecting Through Collage workshop. 

 By utilizing these experimental and compositional strategies, I am able to reflect, expand, and create newer, stronger bodies of work.

These courses are offering innovative and distinct ways for me to express a higher level of significance in my work.

By adding this level of meaning to my work, I can create pieces that speak loudly to a larger audience in a more expressive, refined, and professional manner. I can begin to create a strong, unique, and distinct series of work.   

I’d like to thank the ISEA board for awarding me this scholarship. I am appreciative as this grant allows me to continue developing my voice as an artist with renewed precision, care, and intentionality.

Thank you to ISEA for providing the scholarship opportunity to members – I am both delighted and honored to have been selected as a Scholarship recipient.

As I live in a rural area in the Western Cape (South Africa), there are limited opportunities to discuss my art practice and my development as an artist.  At this stage of my art practice, I feel this gap very strongly.  Having not had formal art training, I also experience limitations in my theoretical and practical knowledge. 

I will be using the scholarship for one-on-one mentoring with Professor Elfriede Dreyer of the Institute of Contemporary Art Practice.  She is a South African academic, mentor, curator, and professional artist.  This will enhance my insights into my work, interrogate what I am doing and serve to challenge me with new ideas and ways of working.  The main source of inspiration for my art derives from my work as an environmental scientist and I have a particular interest in the human-nature connection.   Mentoring will support me in reaching my dream of undertaking inter-disciplinary post-graduate studies that bring art and environment together. 

I am delighted to be a scholarship recipient. I will be using the ISEA scholarship to take a 22-week figure drawing course beginning in September 2024 at the 23rd Street Studio in San Francisco. I chose this course because of the teaching philosophy that informs it, which centers creativity and perception.

As self-taught abstract artist, I have relied on experimentation as a method of learning and practice. A drawback of this approach is that I have not yet had the opportunity to learn foundational skills in art. I hope to counter my sense of intimidation about drawing and learn drawing skills in a setting that emphasizes novel forms of personal expression. In addition, I hope that figure drawing will help me discover ways to depict experiences connected to physical embodiment in imaginative and abstract ways. 

Thank you so much to ISEA for the generous scholarship that has helped to fund my yearlong exploration of Judy Wood’s stARTs Program. Woods, a New Zealand abstract artist and retired schoolteacher, offers a go at your own pace process that has been incredibly educational for me. So far, I have learned to push myself way past when I would have considered a painting finished. The results of using these new techniques are that I am becoming brave enough to grow beyond my self-constructed roadblocks. I have learned patience, to stop listening to my inner critic and to trust myself.

My work is always changing because I need to discover new and unusual ways to share my vision. The course began with an emphasis on design and continues with education on color and value, finding your own style and more. During the bi-weekly critiques, Judy has shown me how to make changes to my work to increase cohesiveness, content and depth.

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to study with Judy but also to learn from a community of other artists who are taking this course. The feedback from other artists is helpful and insightful. Through this course, I have been able to really grow as an artist. And I’m very excited to see what the next 10 months brings for my art journey!

I am deeply honored to have been selected as a 2024 scholarship recipient by ISEA. Under the guidance of artist Carola Bravo, I am participating in the Art Mentoring and Exhibition program. The program’s aim is to cultivate a conceptually strong and cohesive body of work by exploring the interplay between our senses, emotions, and surroundings. In our two sessions thus far, we’ve been delving into the conceptual foundations of our pieces for the upcoming “Intimate Vision of Nature” exhibit.

To challenge myself and expand my creative horizons, I’ve decided to experiment with new materials. The choice of materials is crucial in conveying the significance of our work, and I’m eager to discover how these unfamiliar materials can enhance my artistic expression.

As a master of color and landscape, Gordon Harrison is renowned for his breathtaking paintings that capture the essence of nature in vibrant and unexpected ways. His distinctive style involves bold and striking uses of color, pushing the boundaries of traditional landscape art. Studying under such a master allows artists to expand their horizons and explore color in non-traditional ways. His emphasis on vivid color palettes helps artists delve deeper into the heart of the natural world, encouraging them to see landscapes in ways they may have never imagined. This connection with nature becomes a potent tool for artists to convey the beauty and fragility of the environment in their work.

I am deeply grateful to receive ISEA’s support to take Janine Antoni’s class “At Home in the Body” with the Alternative Art School. With this course, I am looking forward to challenging how I approach and develop process. I am excited to work with an artist who is known for her alternative material use and bodily explorations which I value deeply in my own practice. The class will focus on identifying ourselves within a larger culture, examining our bodies and belief systems.

Janine Antoni describes the approach as, “part laboratory, part playground, part archeological dig”. This excites me because I believe leading with curiosity and excavation, breathes life and meaning into what we create. With these tools of reflection and expansion, I am eager to continue developing my voice as an artist with renewed clarity, care, and intentionality.

I am so grateful to ISEA for selecting me among the 2023 scholarship recipients! Interested in including abstract elements in my mixed media artwork, I felt that learning to loosen up was a "pre-requisite”.

I registered for Joan Fullerton's on-line course "Paint Yourself Free" which is based on intuitive expression and started the class mid-August. I am thoroughly enjoying Joan's "Bossy Pants Process", her generosity and her humour. It is an inspiring approach to art and each new session is full of surprises, an invitation to expand boundaries and explore the unknown. So far, I am quite intrigued and amused by the motion of rotating a piece 90 degrees on a regular basis. I so badly needed some fun in my life!

Maggie Godziuk

My workshop choice, "Vulnerability and the Artist" with Brenda Malkinson opened doors for me in my artistic process. Brenda challenged us to be experimental and vulnerable and to not stick to our usual processes. She gave us loose directions but encouraged us to go with what we felt in the moment and not to worry about being perfect or creating a polished final piece. We used many mediums and many techniques to explore our minds as artists; throughout the full day session I used color pencils, watercolor paints, pencils, and markers! This course epitomized limitless art and taught me new ways to experiment with my art and my processes. I am so thankful to have this opportunity to be able to attend this seminar with Brenda, as well as learn from and meet other artists!

Ann Smiga Greene

Successful creative processes require time, practice, materials, and continuous effort. As I advance to a new phase in my artistic growth, I strive to learn from others and expand my understanding of design in abstract art using mixed media, collage, and line. I hope to gain an additional creative edge by reaching beyond fundamentals and getting out of my personal comfort zone. I’d like to thank ISEA for this scholarship. I consider it a financial springboard to my artistic life.

I plan to use my scholarship to fund an online Cheap Joe’s workshop, “Beauty of the Mark,” with Teresa Kirk (October 18, 19 and 21, 2022). Ms. Kirk describes her mark-making process as beginning an art conversation with unique, surprise elements, along with negative painting, color mixing, and new design formats. Intrigued by the supply list, I aim to learn to apply and experiment with these new materials in my work. Some of the new tools include Ampersand Aquabord, watercolor gouache, Inktense watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, water soluble graphite, stencils, and stamps. This workshop will provide me with an opportunity 

Kat Manton-Jones

It is an honor to be a recipient of the 2022 ISEA Scholarship. Thank you! The scholarship award will be applied to a 5-week, 2023 Arquetopia Art Residency in the Peruvian Sacred Valley of the Incas. The mentored, non-instructional, process-based residency is flexible and self-directed. I intend to interact and collaborate with local artists, researchers, and spiritual leaders to learn how cultural, environmental, and spiritual beliefs and practices intersect.

By utilizing traditional and experimental art techniques, incorporating research data, and spiritual experience specific to the region, I will deeply reflect and expand upon intuitive and experimental painting. This experience will broaden my understanding of the heritage of art, culture, and society via critical inquiry, research, interaction, and process in the field and studio.

Here is Kat Manton-Jones' YouTube video of her experience at this residency.

Margaret Parnell

I am so grateful for this Scholarship opportunity. As soon as I was notified, I signed up for an online course with Lewis Noble in the UK. This three-week course in October 2022 focuses on painting, collage and self-expression.

It will include specifically two different methods of working that interest me and will challenge me in new ways. First, there will be en plein air sessions encouraging quick sketches. These sketches are reworked in the studio as part of a sketchbook to be used as reference for further development into a final painting. Second is the use of photography for both collage as well as reference for sketching. For me, these will both be new methods of working. These techniques will provide resource material to be added to my personal art process. I look forward to continuing to evolve my art through experimentation.

 Robin Kissinger

The gracious nature of the artists and the instructor freed me a bit to get my feet wet. And now I want to learn more. I learned about mixing paint to create new hues of color, and about the science of washes.

Where before the workshop I often made my pieces work accidentally with 

CONGRATULATIONS TO JUDY WEISS – 2021 ISEA SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Judy Weiss

Judy provided a description of her scholarship plans:

My goal in applying for the ISEA Scholarship was to develop my skills and techniques in felting for a new series on the landscapes and amazing sensory experiences of winter in Canada. The award has given me the opportunity to study mixed media felting under Ariane Marianne, from Paris, France via Zoom. The class focuses on colouring and embellishment of textiles, with special emphasis on paper, silk and wool felt. Students begin with mark-making to develop motifs and visual texture either for surface design, or as layers within our individual work. In conjunction with mark-making, I will also learn new colouring methods (acid dyes, inks, paints, cyanotype prints, digital printing) for silk fabrics,

Kimberly Santini

Kimberly provided a description of her intent for the scholarship:

Expressive and intuitive figurative painter Stanka Kordic has hand picked a small gathering of artists for study in her studio this summer. This particular experience is a break from her traditional “show me the magic” sort of workshop (which I have attended in the past), and instead is geared towards seeking a deeper understanding of why we create. This is the first time she has opened her studio up for such an event, and it is an honor to be one of the few artists invited. I will be focused on expanding my toolbox of non-literal expression (from a mark making, tools, and conceptual standpoint) as I dig into the concept of dreams while painting from a place deep inside me.

Click here to visit Kimberly's website.

Haley Joseph

In 2019, ISEA awarded a symposium-related scholarship to emerging artist Haley Joseph.  Haley attended the Mentoring Workshop with Kathleen Conover, the encaustic and cold wax demonstrations, and the ISEA Celebration Dinner and thoroughly enjoyed her time. As a “thank you” to ISEA, Haley helped with the exhibition reception and acted as local tour guide throughout the remainder of the symposium driving people to museums and points of interest in the Grand Rapids and Muskegon area. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO JILL LINDSAY – 2019 ISEA SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Jill Lindsay

Thank you so much for choosing my essay as the scholarship winner. I am positively overjoyed that I won!  The essay I submitted truly epitomized how I feel as an experimental artist: limitless. I am so glad that my friend and art mentor, Beverly Yankwitt (a signature member) told me about ISEA three years ago.  It is a wonderful organization filled with artists that all share their own unique perspective on creating art.

Thus far I have signed up for a one-day workshop "Discovering the Pure Joy of Intuitive Abstract Painting" with Steve Rogers at the Florida Watercolor Society's yearly symposium in September. 

I am still in search of another workshop that will stretch my imagination. I prefer being in a classroom with other artists, as opposed to an on-line class.

Click here to visit Jill's website.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FIRST ISEA SCHOLARSHIP WINNER – MARLENE GREMILLION

Marlene Gremillion

Thank you all for the wonderful scholarship.  I was so fortunate to be able to use it in the Carol Simmons Master Caning in Polymer Clay May 21 through 27 and learned so much.  She had us select colors from a photograph by using color selector on our computer and making up color samples to do our clay blending before designing our canes. Then we learned a variety of cane styles and then these were assembled into a large cane (the largest I have ever made and reduced).  When this was completed we took thin slices and assembled them to make a kaleidoscope design. Really a great workshop and I will put it to practice.

Marlene created a YouTube video going

Eligibility:

• All ISEA members (except Scholarship Committee members and collaborative members).

• Scholarship award winners must wait three years before re-entering.

Submissions received: July 1-15

Recipient notification:  July 30

Number of Scholarships:  Reviewed annually

Scholarship amount:  up to $500 USD

• May be used for virtual training, one-on-one training, workshops, or college courses.

• May not be used for supplies, framing, or travel expenses.

• The scholarship will be paid directly to the instructor by credit card OR to the award winner once a receipt or invoice is sent to the scholarship committee.

Application Requirements:

• Provide a Word document (not a PDF) with a maximum of 350 words answering the following questions:

• Submit the Word document and an image of your current work and a headshot to scholarship@iseaartexhibit.org with your name and the image name in the file. 
• Refer to this downloadable pdf instruction sheet for more details and instructions.
  

Eligibility:

• Emerging artists from the locale of the upcoming Annual Symposium.
  

Scholarship amount:  up to $500 USD

• May be used to cover the costs of learning opportunities and activities offered in the symposium.
  

Selection Process:

1. Local Organizing Committee recommends candidates.
2. The ISEA Executive Board approves the most deserving candidate.