Take a Class
Catalyst Art Lab courses are designed to bring out your potential and introduce you to new ways of thinking and working.
Classes are designed for all stages of your art journey from adventurous beginners through established artists.
- Painting
- Printmaking
- Encaustic Monotypes
- Sculpture
- Experimental Drawing
- Digital Imagery
- Social Media Marketing
- and More...!
Join Our Artist Community
The Catalyst Art Lab Membership Community offers you a place to:
- Connect with us and other members
- Engage in discussions on topics important to you
- Receive valuafeedback on your work, and where you can find support and mentoring. Your membership subscription gives you access to our MightyNetworks community.
Work with an Art Mentor/Coach
- Receive personalized guidance to grow your artistic practice
- Find your unique voice and style
- Portfolio review for feedback and to gain suggestions for direction
- Advice on your website or help with writing grants
- Input on individualized next steps after you finish a course
Are you looking to
accelerate your
art practice?
Have you always wanted
to work with amazing
art instructors who:
- “Get you” and understand the challenges you face at every stage of your artistic journey
- Help you discover or refine your artistic voice
- Help you clarify your concepts and bring your vision to life
Upcoming Live Classes
Be the first to hear about our
upcoming classes!
The Catalyst Art Lab
team of instructors, Helen Dannelly, Jeff Hirst, Paula Roland bring over 100 combined years of teaching to help empower and accelerate your creative journey.
"From the first class, I was hooked! The Catalyst Art Lab workshop techniques and content were awesome. The atmosphere was open and inviting. The workshops always include generous amounts of everything you need for full exploration along with the absolute freedom to bring to the table your own unique way of working."
~ Naomi H.
The Catalyst Art Lab
is your one stop resource for a wide range of courses in a variety of mediums, and the ideal place for artists at all levels to develop technically and conceptually.
With encaustic, oil and cold wax, painting, experimental drawing, printmaking, sculpture, digital imagery, social media marketing for artists and more. . . we have classes that will inspire your artwork and transform your studio practice.
Our internationally renowned artist instructors are recognized experts in their fields and are highly sought after mentors and teachers. Now you can work with them from the convenience of your own studio.
For beginners to established professional artists, we have something for every stage of your creative and professional development.
As artists, we move seamlessly between mediums and are ready to help you find the best ways to express your vision.
Get started today.
Be the first to learn more about our courses & mentoring programs.
Get to know
the Catalyst Art Lab instructors
Helen Dannelly
Moving easily between drawing, painting and sculpture, Helen has developed unconventional ways of mixing mediums that create emotionally evocative pieces.
Helen expands the way you see foundational compositional elements. For example, lines move off the paper and take form as you begin to move beyond the limits of 2D versus 3D and see the limitless potential of the materials.
Have you wondered about the potential for using molds in your work? Helen is our resident mold master. Her mold making classes incorporate application to encaustic and acrylic, casting found objects, and life-casting.
Because of her extensive knowledge and understanding of different mediums, she can help you solve your technical challenges easily.
You will find Helen to be an extremely knowledgeable, inspiring and generous instructor.
Jeff Hirst
Transformation is central to Jeff’s work and teaching, how students move from one place, one idea to another. He is the MacGyver of artists always thinking outside of the box combining high and low tech solutions in executing his work. You will find his perspective opens up new ways of seeing your practice and approaching your work and is ideal for mixed media artists.
He has a knack for guiding you in amplifying your ideas. He sees process as a way of discovery. You will find that his exploratory method of teaching leads to better discovery, expands your creativity and hones your critical thinking skills.
Jeff finds that the intersection of sculpture, printmaking and painting is where magic can happen. You will delight at how he demystifies technically complex mediums extracting key components that combine well with other techniques and mediums to create complex and engaging layered surfaces.
Paula Roland
Paula Roland believes teaching is a creative endeavor and approaches it as she does her art. ”Encaustic printing and painting processes are a metaphor for the way I teach, and for life. It’s a Zen approach: be in the moment, pay attention to what’s happening, and let go of attachment to the outcome."
Paula is an adventurer with materials and processes and has expanded and elevated encaustic monotypes. Her early encaustic explorations included 35' scrolls, large-scale prints, and heated drawings. Her deep understanding of wax and pigment, and how they permeate the paper and become translucent, led Paula to develop back-lit monotype installations and create video projections onto large-scale encaustic images, uniting subject and object.
For Paula, there are no boundaries between printmaking, painting, and drawing. Roland takes this sensibility into the classroom. She creates a dynamic environment that encourages you to see beyond the surface or the medium. Her demonstrations and exercises encourage you to tap into your intuitive side as you learn from doing, and from hands-on exploration that liberates your intuitive creativity and leaves you with satisfying “aha” moments as the concepts come together for you.
Paula is passionate about teaching. She encourages you to rethink the potential and use of materials, and ways to further the poetics of your vision.
What is the Catalyst Art Lab Membership Community?
The CAL Membership Community
is a members-only community hosted on a private platform designed for artists like you with content thoughtfully curated by the Catalyst Art Lab Team to serve your needs and interests.
Members engage in robust and lively discussions on topics ranging from medium specific forums, marketing and selling your work, professional development and tips and techniques to member spotlight, requesting feedback, and book, video and podcast recommendations.
Each month you have access to:
- Monthly office hours with one of the CAL Team artists. Ask us anything about your art practice or come for a discussion on a specific topic. Let us know how we can we help!
- Monthly live critique sessions. Submit your work to participate in our weekly critique and get exactly the feedback you’re looking for.
- Member Spotlights - a chance to learn about your fellow members and share more about yourself.
- Tips, Demos and Techniques – access to demos on processes and practices in various mediums.
- Monday Mash-Ups - a variety of challenges, prompts, information and inspiration to move the work forward.
- Interviews with Artists and Arts Professionals. Insights into the art practice of working artists, their work, and careers. Learn from their successes and experiences. Art professionals such as gallerists, curators, etc. share their insights about the art world.
- Book Club – a group for those interested in discussions around art books read each month.
- Panel Discussions that include topics of professional development, opportunities and areas of concern for the practicing artist.
Expand your community, accelerate your growth as an artist. Join the Catalyst Art Lab membership community.
Interested in joining
The Catalyst Art Lab Membership Community?
Get on the list to be the first to know when enrollment opens.
Testimonials
"I am a painter and collagist working primarily in encaustic. I also have a background in printmaking. Jeff Hirst's workshop dealing with encaustic collagraphs and silk screening on encaustic was one of the most exciting workshops I have ever taken! Jeff is an even-tempered, patient person who puts all his students at ease. No one leaves his workshop feeling inadequate, but rather feeling empowered. Beneath his calm persona, is an artist of incredible intensity and talent. I highly recommend signing up with Jeff.
I was so inspired that I sought Jeff out to take more classes with him outside the workshop. Jeff has so much to offer that "picking his brains" is definitely beneficial!"
“What I love about Paula Roland's workshops, in addition to her vast technical expertise and experience as an educator, is her unique ability to cultivate an open creative space that is supportive of both independent exploration and collaboration. I find that she attracts high caliber artists and it is great to share time with them in Paula's comfortable studio.”
~ Deborah B. ~
“I've loved the classes by Helen Dannelly. I've been surprised and humbled by how much I didn't know and how much there is to know about color. Helen is a dynamic teacher and the experience makes me want to take more Catalyst Art Lab classes in the future."
~ Karen N. F. ~
GET STARTED TODAY!
Be the first to learn more about our courses & mentoring programs.