Summer Solstice Cyanotypes

with Kim Meyers Baas
June 20, 3:00–6:00 p.m.
Tuition: $100
Materials Fee: $20

Celebrate the longest day of the year through a hands-on exploration of cyanotype, one of the oldest photographic printing processes. In this workshop, participants will learn to create deep-blue botanical prints on both paper and cloth using sunlight, found forms, and the natural environment as collaborators. We will work with techniques for arranging compositions, preparing surfaces, and exposing prints using UV light—embracing the way time, weather, and the intensity of the solstice sun shape each image. The workshop will conclude with a group review of finished prints on provided high-quality watercolor paper and 100% cotton rag fabric.

Plan to bring: small natural or flat objects that hold personal meaning, and wear clothing that can get messy. Additional botanicals and textural materials will be gathered from across the Ox-Bow grounds.

Location: Main Campus - 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck, MI 49453

Kim Meyers Baas (she/her) is an artist, arts educator, and administrator whose practice explores family identity, equity in education, migration, and authentic voice. Her work is shaped by long-term engagement in public education settings in Michigan, in Chicago, and along the United States–Mexico border, collaborating with youth artists and communities since 1992. She currently serves as Fine Arts Coordinator for West Michigan’s Kentwood Public Schools, one of the most diverse school districts in the country. She also mentors art teachers through the Art21 Educators program and is an adjunct in the art department at Calvin University. Meyers Baas holds a BA in Visual Art from Loyola University Chicago and an MA in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a lifelong learner at Ox-Bow, where teaching and learning alongside others feels inseparable from place, practice, and a sustained relationship with Lake Michigan.

Natural Ink Making

with Elizabeth Schmuhl
July 18, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Tuition: $100
Materials Fee: $10

Create original paintings, bookmarks, and cards with freshly foraged, handmade inks—and gain some inspiration for future inky experiments! We’ll begin the day outside foraging for plants and other natural materials. You are also encouraged to bring plants or other materials from home; anything can be used to create ink! Next, we will learn the ink-making process using your found materials. Wrap up the day by experimenting with your fresh inks on different substrates.

Plan to bring: a notebook and anything natural from your home/garden that you’d like to try to make ink with. It is recommended that you dress for the weather and foraging, including wearing tall socks, long sleeves, and a hat. Ink-making materials will be provided. 

Location: Main Campus - 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck, MI 49453

Elizabeth Schmuhl (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist who creates work that explores nature, movement, and memory. She deeply investigates the natural world, its cycles, and entropy, all of which inform her work. Schmuhl is the author of Premonitions. She has also published The Four Seasons, a book of paintings created with natural ink from her centennial fruit farm in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Fishes of the Great Lakes, containing paintings with natural inks made entirely from the Great Lake watershed and materials that surround it. Schmuhl has shared her work globally and holds an MFA and a BA from the University of Michigan. She has taught at the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and elsewhere.

Pressless Prints: Hand-Stamped Designs

with Carolyn Ingram
July 25, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Tuition: $75
Materials Fee: $20

In this workshop, participants will design and create original images using hand-carved and found-object stamps, producing a series of layered prints on paper to take home. Demonstrations will cover basic stamp carving, inking techniques, pattern building, registration, and creative mark-making without the use of a printing press. The class will flow from experimental warm-ups to guided projects and open exploration, allowing time for iteration, collaboration, and individual image development.

Plan to bring: any personal imagery, sketches, or objects you’d like to incorporate into your printing.

Location: Main Campus - 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck, MI 49453

Carolyn Ingram (she/her, they/them) is a printmaker living in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She received her BA in Studio Arts from Kalamazoo College and served as a postbaccalaureate printmaking resident at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. She is a part of Southwest Michigan Printmakers and has taught printmaking workshops at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center. Ingram has been practicing printmaking for eight years, exploring traditional and modern methods. Her work has been shown at Michigan’s Crooked Tree Arts Center and was included in the Poets in Print broadside at the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.

Natural Impressions: Botanical Pressing in Ink

with JoAnne Laudolff
August 1, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Tuition: $75
Materials Fee: $20

Celebrate the abundance of summer with this vibrant nature printing workshop, during which we’ll transform fresh flowers and leaves into colorful printed wreaths. Participants will learn how to compose botanical arrangements and hand-print them onto fine papers to create frame-worthy works. Techniques demonstrated will include selecting and preparing plant materials, applying paints for optimal transfers, and hand-rubbing prints to capture delicate natural textures. The workshop will begin with an introduction to botanical printing, followed by guided experimentation with composition and printing methods. Participants will create one large print along with several smaller botanical impressions.

Plan to bring: fresh leaves or small botanical materials of personal interest (optional). All papers, paints, and additional plant materials will be provided. Please ensure any collected plant materials are fresh; if gathered the day prior, store them in a sealed bag in the refrigerator.

Location: Main Campus - 3435 Rupprecht Way, Saugatuck, MI 49453

JoAnne Laudolff (she/her) is a Saugatuck-based artist who has been teaching Japanese papermaking, printmaking, oil and cold wax, and mixed-media workshops for over 25 years. She holds a BA from Columbia College Chicago, where she studied at the Center for Book and Paper Arts, as well as an MA in Studio Arts from Northern Illinois University. Laudolff also studied oil and cold wax with Rebecca Crowell, and printmaking at both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Anchor Graphics. In addition, she has attended various classes at Ox-Bow. Laudolff has taught at numerous venues in Illinois and has exhibited her work extensively. Her work is included in many private collections.