Under Ancestral Skies

The expansive sky above us is the same one our ancestors admired centuries ago. Countless lives have thrived beneath these skies, serving as a bridge between worlds. An abundance of wisdom hangs overhead, with cycles, rhythms, and storms guiding us each day. This serves as a gentle reminder to slow down and gaze upward.

Inside Kristy Kensinger’s latest class, we will reconnect with our roots and explore the celestial cycles while creating expressive skyscapes. We’ll examine the movement and illumination of clouds, learning how to capture their essence through paint.

Our goal is to portray the ethereal beauty of horizon lines as they merge with the boundless sky above.

Body of Water

The idea is simple. A mixed media collage built on top of a letter you write to your own body. The letter becomes the under-layer, painted and collaged over, partially obscured, but present in every layer that follows.

The page we'll make together is meant to feel like a small ceremony turned toward yourself. Slower than usual, more deliberate.

I'll walk you through painted and collaged backdrops, placing a vintage figure at the center of the page, working with symbolism and color, and adding gold leaf where you want to mark what matters. We'll also talk about color planning and how I use it for color palette planning and using reference images, in case you want to follow along.

I hope you can join me!

Floret

The class starts with a single bloom…. You gather a few favorite flowers, sketch them in charcoal, and paint them in luminous layers of color until the canvas holds everything you noticed: the shape of a petal, the light along its edge, the mood a color carries.

Over six projects, you'll paint soft atmospheric backgrounds, mix glazes the way the old masters did, work with natural pigments, and finish with small romantic florals on linen that could have come from a French flea market. 

The pace is the luxury. Renee gives you room to slow down, pour a cup of tea, spend a whole afternoon, and make something more beautiful than it needs to be, just because you can. 

If you've wanted a reason to indulge in your practice, this is a lovely one.