Art Exploration is a series of mixed media workshops that are fun, playful art making activities suitable for all levels of experience from beginners to advanced visual creatives.

Each week Alison will lead through presentations and prompts with emphasis on designing and painting abstracted artworks on canvas. New concepts and techniques will be added weekly. Painting processes will all start with quickly drawn sketches that serve simply as a guide to begin. Precision is absolutely not necessary, as folks will be asked to work intuitively and abstractly in producing their individual artworks. Then the paint, papers and marks will be used to build up the painting. The basics of color selection, composition and other art principles will be discussed. Subject matters will include still life florals, landscapes and purely abstracted compositions too. All subject ideas are welcome and will be explored. At the end of each workshop each attendee will have a unique, colorful, and completed painting to take home. This is a time for trying new techniques and to explore and create freely!

This week will focus on painting with oil pastels. Using oil pastels, we will learn the versatility of this medium on its own and also as a complement to acrylic painting. Oil pastels will be used for layering, outlining, or on their own to create a colorful abstracted painting.

Alison Press is a visual artist whose work captures the spirit of the Blue Ridge mountain region through bold abstraction and vibrant color. After painting for more than 20 years while working a corporate career, she retired in 2022 to pursue art full-time. Today, Alison is a painter, collagist, and printmaker creating and showing her original contemporary art from her studio at the Asheville Cotton Mill — a historic building in the River Arts District recently reopened after the flood damage of Hurricane Helene in 2024. 

Her original abstract artwork invites collectors to experience color and form in unexpected ways. Alison’s work has been described as vibrant, joyful, and alive — art that transforms both walls and moods.

Along with her working art studio and gallery space, Alison also participates in monthly curated exhibitions, with new shows opening each First Friday at Resurrection Studios Collective in downtown Asheville. Her work was recently selected and featured in the River Arts Resilience Project curated by ArtPlay in Asheville. Beyond exhibiting, Alison shares her love of art through teaching — leading workshops at both Resurrection Studios Collective, ArtPlay, and the Community Hub at White Horse Black Mountain.

FREE Event Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1988175386100?aff=oddtdtcreator

Location: 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain, NC 28711