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Monday, September 15: Kawaii Animal Drawings
Monday, September 22: Sketching and Shading People
Monday, September 29: "Wicked" Sculptures (Inspired by the Musical/ Movie)
Monday, October 6: Making Miniatures
Monday, October 20: Zebra Paintings
Monday, October 27: Spooky Haunted House Chalk and Charcoal Drawings: Who Will You Make Live Inside?
$20 plus $6 Art Kit to take home.
Register for whatever workshops interest you! (Plus HST)
Tuesday, September 9: Draw Your Pet!
Tuesday, September 23: Sunflower Paintings
Tuesday, October 7: Puppet-Making
Tuesday, October 21: Capybara Animal Paintings
$20 plus $6 Art Kit to take home. (Plus HST)
Register for whatever workshops interest you!
Wednesday, September 17: Create Your Own Animated Flipbook
Wednesday, October 1: Meerkat Animal Watercolours
Wednesday, October 15: Pottery
Wednesday, October 29: Halloween Fun! Drawing Anime Skeletons
$20 plus $6 Art Kit to take home. (Plus HST)
Register for whatever workshops interest you!
Saturday, September 27: "I LOVE" Collage- use magazines, Japanese paper, sharpies, vintage stamps and more to create a collage all about you!
Saturday, October 11: Thanksgiving! Needle-Felting: Please NOTE this workshop is suitable for ages 10 and up
$20 plus $6 Art Kit to take home. (Plus HST)
Register for whatever workshops interest you!
Friday, September 26: P.A Day Cartooning Food Fight: Kawaii Food Besties! Bring your best friend to the studio while we learn how to draw Kawaii best friend food characters and bring food to life- like bff hamburgers and hot dogs, fries and ketchup, marshmallows and s'mores and more!
Friday, October 24: P.A Day: A Rainbow of Characters! We'll make our way through the rainbow creating a different cartoon character for each colour in the rainbow! Can you guess what they will be? They could be underwater creatures, animals and more! Sharpen up your drawing skills and laugh too!
P.A. Day workshops are 30 minutes LONGER, and are $35 plus HST including ALL art supplies.
TO REGISTER for any of the workshops:
Please email Christine at jttacabin@gmail.com
See you at the studio!
September/ October 2025
ADULT ART WORKSHOPSHeld at the Jorney Through the Arts log cabin studio
Tuesday, September 23 from 10:00-11:30:Needle Felting Flowers! Join me at the studio as we explore the fun of needle felting! This workshop will show you how to transform beautiful coloured fleece into felted flowers (see my attached felted sunflower for inspiration) No experience is required! Needle-felting is the perfect relaxing way to experiment with the fibre arts!
Tuesday, October 28 from 10:00-11:30: Watercolour Fall Landscapes During this fun watercolour workshop we will be inspired by the beautiful warm fall colours to create several fall landscapes. Don't worry if you are scared of drawing- during this workshop we will let the watercolour painting techniques add all of the detail!
All adult workshops are $35 plus HST per class and include all art supplies. These workshops are held at the Journey Through the Arts log cabin studio.
Email jttacabin@gmail.com to register!
ALSO… I teach adult art workshops through Community Care in Port Hope- open to all adults. These workshops are held at the Haliburton Kawartha Health Unit in Port Hope and are $25 per workshop. Feel free to email me if you would like to register for any of the workshops listed below (payment and registration is done separately)
Held at the Jorney Through the Arts log cabin studio
Wednesday, September 17 from 1:00-3:00 "Fun with Watercolour Flowers" Intimidated by watercolour? Don't be! This fun step by step workshop will teach you the basics of watercolour painting in a fun and engaging way! We will create an assortment of whimsical and colourful flowers and then add detail and definition with ink pens. By the end of the workshop you will have a whole assortment of floral paintings- and a few watercolour bookmarks as well!
Wednesday, October 22 from 1:00-3:00 "Fun with Collage" During this workshop we will have fun creating with Japanese papers, vintage stamps, magazines and more! Collage is a therapeutic, relaxing and fun way to experiment with colour, texture and shapes and is a fun way to play with found images to create your own art.
Wednesday, November 19 from 1:00-3:00 "Fun with Pen & Ink: Forest Drawings- Exploring the Textures of Trees" Imagine walking into a delicate forest filled with textured bark and tangled branches. During this workshop we will learn how to draw trees and how to use ink pens to add detail to our little forest drawings.
TO REGISTER for any of the workshops:
Please email Christine at jttacabin@gmail.com
See you at the studio!
JTTA In-the-Schools Program
Looking for a creative experience for your students in Kindergarten to Grade 8? The Journey Through the Arts In-the-Schools Program brings amazing interactive and hands-on visual art workshops that are geared towards each grade right into your classroom! We bring all of the art supplies and guide the students step-by-step through fun and imaginative art projects. $7 per student (includes all art supplies, instruction and a 2-period-length art workshop). By the end of the workshop each student will have a piece of art to hang in the classroom or take home with them.
Email jttacabin@gmail.com to for more information or to reserve a workshop.
(Please note: The JTTA In-the-Schools Program is open to schools ONLY in Port Hope & Cobourg at this time.)
Here are just a few of the school art workshops we offer:
WORKSHOPS DESCRIPTIONS
JK/SK: Clay Pinch Pots: During this workshop students will learn all about clay, 2D shapes, 3D shapes and how to make their own clay pinch pot using self hardening clay. The pots will be left to dry in the classroom and paint will be left with the teacher so that the pots can be painted and decorated 4-5 days later once the clay is fully hardened.
Grade 1: Art in the Round: "Exploring Sand Mandalas": This workshop will focus on learning about the various types of lines, geometric and organic shapes, warm and cool colours and radial designs to create a mandala sand painting on canvas using various colours of sand.
Grade 2: Understanding Warm and Cool Colours: "That's One Cool Panda!" During this workshop students will learn how to draw a panda using geometric shapes. They will then transform their symmetrical panda drawing using warm colours on one side and cool colours on the other. This workshop will focus on how colours can be used to show emotion as well as using symmetrical shapes.
Grade 3: Painting Underwater Creatures: This workshop will teach students how to draw an underwater scene and will focus on the concepts of space (foreground, middleground and background) to create the feeling of depth and will teach the students how to create various textures (pointilism for sand, scales on fish etc) and underwater creatures including a jellyfish, seahorse and a fish to create an underwater painting.
Grade 4: Squirrel Drawings: Learning About Line and Texture: This workshop will teach students how to draw a squirrel and to use various drawing techniques such as cross-hatching, pointillism and repetition of lines to create visual rhythm and texture in their squirrels fur and the setting of their drawing.
Grade 5: Birch Tree Landscape Paintings: This workshop will focus on understanding how to compose a landscape and using shading and cast shadows that create the illusion of depth in a landscape painting.
Grade 6: Caricatures: This workshop will teach students about the rules of proportion for the human face. After understanding proportion we will break the rules and exaggerate a facial feature to create a funny caricature of ourselves.
Grade 7: Drawing Trees Inspired by Emily Carr: This workshop will teach students about how to use lines for expressive purposes while creating a landscape drawing inspired by Canadian artist Emily Carr. The workshop will also introduce students to using texture and value in their drawings of trees using chalk pastels.
Grade 8: Cubist Portrait Paintings Inspired by Picasso: This workshop will investigate Cubist portraits and how artists such as Picasso broke up and analyzed three dimensional shapes and reassembled them on the page. During this workshop we will analyze the shapes used in the human face and reassemble them to create our own Cubist self-portrait paintings.
I would also be happy to discuss the individual needs of your students and customize a lesson to suit your individualized learning goals and units.
2023 Diamond Winner: Best Art School/Instruction: Journey Through the Arts
2023 Platinum Winner: Best Local Artist: Christine Benson
2023 Gold Winner: Best Kids Camps: Journey Through the Arts
ART BIRTHDAY PARTIES
For Ages 6 to 13 years oldAre you stuck for a creative and fun way to celebrate your child's birthday? Why not hold a party at the log cabin at the Journey Through the Arts studio! Parties include:
- a 1 hour art project
- 30 minutes for cake and/or presentsBirthday Party packages include:
- a customized art project based on what the birthday child would like to do (painting, cartooning, drawing, clay sculpture etc) and a customized subject matter (their favourite animal, cartoon character). Email Christine to discuss all of the art media options AND subject matter available.
- includes all art supplies
- an art-themed goodie bag for each participantCost: $18 plus HST per child
**Parties can be booked to suit your schedule
ADULT WORKSHOPS
New Year’s Resolutions are easy to break aren't they? But if you made a resolution to do something fun, to learn something new or be creative I’ve made a cozy & inviting studio space for you at the Journey Through the Arts log cabin. Come and spend a couple of hours with your friends and pick a project you have always wanted to try:
Book Your Own Time With Friends at the Studio!
Relief printmaking (linocuts)
Watercolour
Drawing/Sketching
Scratchboard
Acrylic Painting
Chalk Pastel/Charcoal
What are YOU interested in exploring? Landscapes, animals, gardens, abstract? The art supplies are ready! Feel free to contact me to reserve a customized time during the day Monday to Friday between the hours of 10:00am to 2:00pm and create a project for you! Connect with your creative side and with your friends in a fun and relaxing environment. $30 per person for a 1.5 hour private workshop (includes all art supplies). Please email the studio at jttacabin@gmail.com for more information or to book your workshop!
I hope to see you all at the cabin studio!
Christine
Journey Through the Arts
The JTTA In-the-Schools Programme
WORKSHOPS INCLUDE:
- Learning the Basics of Drawing
- Relief Printmaking
- Drawing Trees Inspired By Emily Carr
- Caricatures
- Pointillism
- Portraits Inspired by Modigliani
- Surrealism and Salvador Dali
- Architectural Designs Inspired by Hundertwasser
- Navajo Sandpainting and Symbolism
- Art in the Round: Exploring Tibetan Mandalas
- Australian Aboriginal Art
- Drawing Our Own daVinci Flying Machines
- Drawing Underwater Creatures
- Egyptian Hieroglyphics
- OwlPaintings on Canvas: Learning How to Mix Colours and Create Textures with Paint
- Contour Leaf Drawings with Cross-hatching
- Paintings That Make You SCREAM Inspired by
Edvard Munch- Pen and Ink Owls: Learning About Lines and Textures
- How to Draw People in Proper Proportion
- Canadian Aboriginal Art: Petroglyphs and Storytelling
- Understanding Colour
- Self-Portraits Inspired by Vincent vanGogh
- Collage with Gustav Klimt
- Cubism Portraits Inspired by Pablo Picasso
- Landscape Painting and the Group of Seven
- Scratchboard Inspired by the Tree of Life
We hope to see you at the studio soon!
WE ARE...
Journey Through the Arts, run by artist Christine Benson, and musician Mike Woods is a multi-faceted arts organization in Port Hope, Ontario which is dedicated to bringing a variety of exciting programmes to adults and children. Founded as a way to ensure "the arts" (music, art and drama) are an integeral part of children's lives JTTA offers week long summer programmes throughout July and August at a restored mill along the Ganaraska River. The summer programme, which was founded in 2002, teaches children (between the ages of 6 and 13) about the value and importance of using their creativity and imagination while they produce visual art, perform original musical compositions and perform short plays. The results are both inspiring and humbling as the children gain confidence and learn various skills throughout the week.
From its roots as a children's arts organization Journey Through the Arts (JTTA) has blossomed and grown into a place where adults and children alike can experience the limitless possibilities of the arts. JTTA now offers after school, weekend and specialty art workshops for children, private guitar lessons, a group recording facility and adult visual art workshops which are dedicated to exposing adults (with various levels of experience) to the fine arts.
In the summer of 2005 JTTA opened the doors of the The Journey Through the Arts Gallery which focuses on giving exhibition opportunities to local and regional artists and artisans. The JTTA Gallery offers visitors a glimpse into the ideas, practises, techniques and work of 15 artists. The gallery features a variety of media including painting, printmaking, jewelry and pottery. Exhibitions and artists are ever-changing with work that is sure to inspire the artist within all of us.
JOURNEY THROUGH THE ARTS OFFERS:
PRIVATE LESSONS for ADULTS & CHILDREN:
Arranged to suit your individual schedule, these lessons can be booked after school or in the evening. Lessons are 30 minutes ($20 per lesson) or 1 hour ($30 per lesson) plus HST. Private lessons include all art supplies. Lessons are based on your individual interests including mosaics, jewellery, painting on canvas, watercolour, printmaking and more!!
ART BIRTHDAY PARTIES:
JTTA offers a fun and creative way to celebrate your child's birthday! Your private party includes all supplies, snacks and an art project for each of your guests. Parties are one hour in length and are held at our downtown studios. Parties are suitable for children 6-13 and are $15 per child plus HST. Please visit our website or call the studio for project descriptions.
IN-THE-SCHOOLS PROGRAMME:
Invite JTTA to your school! Workshops are available for JK to Grade 8 in various media. All workshops are affordably priced at $6 plus HST per student, including all art supplies. Instruction is 2 periods in length and comes with an accompanying rubric that compliments the visual art curriculum.
SATURDAY MORNING ART WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN 6-12:
Each 1 hour workshop focuses on a particular technique and/or art movement. Art workshops for children are held on Saturday’s from 10:00-11:00 and are $20 per workshop plus HST (which includes all art supplies) and consist of a maximum of 10 participants. Children are not required to register for all workshops and are free to pick and choose the workshops that interest them!
