Experiment with Ink and texture at Pinot & Print workshop

Participants can learn and experiment with the printmaking technique “monoprinting” while enjoying a complimentary beverage during Pinot & Print. The workshop will be held Thursday, November 7, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The cost is $25 for ASC members and $35 for nonmembers. Must be 21 or older to attend. (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Wright)

UAPB instructor Jonathan Wright Leads Nov. 7 Monoprinting Class

The Arts & Science Center is offering a new printmaking workshop, suitable for both experienced artists and beginners looking to spend a fun evening creating. 

Artist and UAPB instructor Jonathan Wright will lead Pinot & Print on Thursday, November 7, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The cost is $25 for ASC members and $35 for nonmembers. No experience is necessary and all supplies will be provided. Advance registration is required.

Participants can also enjoy complimentary wine, beer, and nonalcoholic beverages, and must be 21 or older to attend.

Artists can create abstract prints or more defined images with monoprinting (Photo courtesy of Jonathan Wright)

The workshop uses a printmaking technique called monoprinting. Monoprinting is a form of printmaking in which the image can only be made once, unlike most printmaking forms — such as relief printing — which allow for multiple original prints.

“This workshop is ideal for people who love to draw and paint,” Wright said.

The monoprints incorporate craftsmanship and direct painting with printmaking onto plexiglass, he said. Wright will direct participants with drawing and painting in color with rollers, brushes, and found materials onto the plexiglass to create textures that enhance the atmosphere and mood of an art piece along with light and dark background techniques.

Quality paper is then placed on the sheet of plexiglass and they are both run through a press to print a permanent image onto the paper.

Register online or by calling 870-536-3375. For more information, contact ASC Public Programs Coordinator Shakeelah Rahmaan at srahmaan@asc701.org.

Explore Chinese fashion during ‘Sumptuous Silks’ workshop

SPECIAL GUEST INSTRUCTOR YUNRU SHEN MODELS ONE OF HER LATEST DESIGNS, A MODERN TAKE ON THE TRADITIONAL QIPAO (or CHEONGSAM) DRESS POPULAR IN CHINA AND THROUGHOUT THE WEST.

Shen explained of the concept behind her dress' design: "It is inspired by the beautiful musical tones of the Chinese ancient stringed instrument, the guzheng. I learned to play this instrument during my childhood. It has deep meaning for me. Musical tones are very similar to daily life — sometime we are up, sometime we are down. At end, it is our beautiful and meaningful life with happiness and pain."

The Arts & Science Center invites the community to explore traditional and modern Chinese fashion during its next adult education class, “Sumptuous Silks and Ancient Traditions: Exploring Chinese Fashion,” on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Special guest Yunru Shen, fashion designer and instructor at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and will lead an engaging discussion on traditional and modern Chinese fashion. Participants will then have their turn to be creative as ASC Public Programs Coordinator Leonor Colbert guides them through making their own hand fans. Inspired by a variety of traditional Chinese hand fan designs, the silk brocade fans can be personalized to the makers’ taste. Participants can also enjoy a complimentary wine or beer while making their fans.

No experience is required, and all materials will be included. Advance registration is required and attendees must be at least 21 years old. The cost is $10 for ASC members or $15 for nonmembers.

Shen, who is originally from Shanghai, China, is a faculty member in UAPB's Merchandising, Textiles, and Design Program.

“I will talk about Chinese fashion from the 1920s qipao dress to today though history and culture change,” Shen explained. “I will also discuss three fashion cities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong in order to introduce today’s Chinese fashion trends with different major cities’ environmental influence.”

Shen will also show her own spring/summer 2019 collection.

“I created my newest fashion collection with new qipao style. It is a new Oriental/exotic American style,” she explained. She plans to wear the modern silk qipao dress for the event.

"Sumptuous Silks and Ancient Traditions" Attendees will be guided in making their own personalized fans like the one shown. Inspired by a variety of traditional Chinese hand fan designs, the silk brocade fans can be personalized to the makers’ taste. They can also enjoy a complimentary wine or beer while making their fans.

The qipao (and the similar cheongsam) first became popular in 1920s Shanghai. Characterized by its close fit and brocade fabric, the dress style can still be seen in 21st-century eastern and western fashions.

Shen has studied and worked in fashion on three continents. She earned a Bachelor of Design degree in fashion and apparel design in 2010 at Raffles College of Design and Commerce in Sydney, Australia. She worked in Shanghai — China’s the fashion and economic center — at KISMET+, a women’s fashion studio. She moved to the United States in 2011 to study at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, where she graduated in 2014 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in apparel design. She has also worked in a design team for Edun Americas Inc., a New York City-based fashion brand founded to promote fair trade in Africa by sourcing production within the continent.

Shen joined UAPB in 2014, and teaches classes covering textiles, apparel design, fashion illustration, fashion buying and merchandising, and the fashion industry.