Level: all

May 19 - June 23, 2026

Tuesdays

2:30-4:30pm

6 weeks

Instructor: Mari Gyorgyey

Instructor's website

Fee: $220

In this relaxed and supportive class, participants will explore creativity through the theme of memoir.  Students will learn how the combination of words and visuals provide the perfect vehicle for expressing one’s personal history.

Participants will be asked to bring meaningful two-dimensional materials—such as photographs, letters, words, textiles, artifacts, and keepsakes from their own lives or those of people close to them—to help tell a layered and personal story.  To help get your creative ideas flowing, Mari will share a few thematic prompts before the start of each class.

Throughout the class, you’ll explore a variety of techniques and ideas to help you compose your thoughts and how to portray them in a visual way. Students can expect to work with paint, a variety of mark making tools (i.e. paints, markers, pencils, etc), special adhesives, as well as simple image transfer techniques.   Mari will also use a small portion of each class to introduce students to well-known authors who have taken the art of the illustrated memoir to an interesting and captivating level.

Discover how to transform your personal memories, dreams and treasured memorabilia into an exciting, one-of-a-kind work of art while exploring a wide range of creative tools and techniques.  Students will be encouraged to complete a piece of artwork weekly, however personal tempo will be respected.

Suggested Supplies:

All of the items listed below are just ideas. Think about what you would like to work with and bring it along with you.  No worries if you’re not sure what to bring. Mari will introduce you to a world of ideas and famous works of art which will serve as inspiration for the type of work you’d like to do.

  • two-dimensional materials—such as photographs, letters, words, textiles, artifacts, and keepsakes from your own life or those of people close to you
  • Pad of 9″x12″ Bristol Board
  • Pencils
  • Gel Pens
  • “YES” glue, (available at Jerry’s Art Store)
  • Matte medium
  • A good pair of scissors.
  • Scotch tape,masking tape
  • Paints, brushes, pencils, crayons
  • And whatever else interests you!

About the Instructor: 

Mari Gyorgyey is best known for her nonlinear narrative art which flows into book arts, pen and ink drawings, paintings, computer imagery, and fine art etchings. She is not afraid to mix any of the techniques to communicate her theme.Mari’s approach can be described as figurative and expressionistic. Her quirky and satirical drawings has been compared to Philip Evergood, and William Kentridge and the pre-war drawings of George Grosz. Since earning her BFA from RISD, and MFA from UPENN, Gyorgyey has shown her work domestically and internationally with solo shows in Tapio Gyorgy, Hungary, Budapest, Hungary as well as Stamford, CT., U.S.A. She has won printmaking awards from UPENN, Dharma Silk Company, and the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, where she is a longtime member.