LEARNING CURVE: Neo Mosaics workshop will be taught by artist Johnatan Machado Tepper.

At Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar, Spring 2016 features some of the most
popular courses from the last season plus some fresh additions. By Umer Nangiana

Community education classes imparting new skills and deep understanding of art and culture at Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar (VCU-Q) are back for the spring season. Offering short courses in multiple areas of interest, Spring 2016 features some of the most popular courses from the last season such as the photo project, the art of low light photography, camera filming, digital illustration and others besides many new programmes such as Neo Mosaics.
The Neo Mosaic workshop is focused on exploring ways of creating images. By ways of non-conventional materials, participants will imitate a rather old technique in a contemporary manner. They will exercise different approaches to explore how to work with this new technique.
The mosaic technique is characterised by revealing very clearly the process that leads to a final image. Neo-Mosaics is something new and it has a myriad of applications. Participants will discover a unique route to develop their creativity enjoying each step of the making.
The course will be taught by Johnatan Machado Tepper, a Venezuelan artist, with a graduate degree in Painting from the Armando Reveron University (Caracas, Venezuela), and a Master’s degree in Public Art from the Universidad Politécnica of Valencia, Spain.
In his professional career, he has had his artworks exhibited in various cities such as Alicante, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Miami, Savannah, Doha and major cities of his country (Venezuela).
Machado has developed his work on the continuous experimentation of techniques, ranging from photography to painting, to collage and working with unconventional materials.
Another exciting programme is Digital Illustration: From sketch to final artwork, the programme is to be instructed by Charlene Kasdorf. It is all about quirky characters and intriguing environments; create visual stories with imaginative twists and develop them into digital illustrations.
Participants are guided through a two-phase process like creating several sketches by exploring ideas using pencil, pen, and coloured inks and using Photoshop, develop colour and texture to emphasise character and composition, with lessons in design skills. The class will draw inspiration from contemporary illustrators and participants are asked to bring illustrations that they like to class.
Charlene Kasdorf has lived and worked as an artist, illustrator, and educator in Canada, Thailand, Switzerland, the UK, and currently in Qatar. She earned her BFA with Honours back home in Canada. While living abroad, she embraced teaching art at various levels and earned her Masters in International Education in Switzerland.
She collaborates on various Qatar-based art and education projects, with past collaborations including the Museum of Islamic Art, QM Family Programmes, Medina Publishing, and several international schools in Doha. She is an active member of the Association of Illustrators and the International Artists of Doha.
Among dozens of programmes there is also a course on Low Light Photography suitable for serious amateurs holding a good level of knowledge about photographic principles including aperture, shutter and ISO, which will be the prerequisite for this programme.
Students will be meeting offsite for some of the classes to do hands on practical studies outside. Salim Abdulla, a creative photographer based in Qatar, will be the instructor.