Join us at Hancock Arts for a day with one of Mississippi’s most collected and renowned artists, Ellen Langford. She has studied in New York, San Francisco, DC and Italy, and her work has been exhibited across the United States.
"In my classes I emphasis building a story through layering and addressing compositional elements such as balance and negative space. I push my students out of their comfort zones, but have never had anyone not pleased with their progress by the end of the class." - Ellen Langford
$145 for Members
$160 for non-Members
Students should bring their own supplies - SEE SUPPLY LIST AT END OF THIS POST.
Students should bring their lunch and beverage.
Ellen Langford is a painter whose body of work is inspired by landscapes, chance meetings, and the South’s mighty cross-currents. Ellen notices and captures the relationships between the land and its inhabitants – a child with his dog, a clothesline in the breeze, a figure with the landscape. We don’t only see them in her paintings, we feel that joyful connection.
Langford worked for years as a paramedic in central Mississippi. She became heavily influenced by the often tender narratives of her patients’ stories, as well as the quiet rituals that they incorporate into their lives. As the parent of a young boy herself, and owner of chickens and dogs, Ellen often incorporates children and animals into her compositions as she finds sweetness and vulnerability in their movements, as well as joy and adventure.
Native to Mississippi, Ellen has pursued academic studies in her craft in New York, San Francisco, DC, and Italy, among other places. However, her work took on its recognizable narrative quality when she returned to her home in the Deep South.
Langford’s painting process involves layers of paint, often sanded away and then glazed over, searching for shape and pattern, color, and texture, to build the story worlds her figures inhabit. (Bio courtesy of Betsy-Rose Weiss of the American Folk Art Gallery in Asheville, NC).
Supply List
PAINT (Acrylic)
Blue
Yellow
Red
White
Black
BRUSHES
3-5 different sized brushes (err on the bigger sizes)
Flats or Brights: 16, 8
Filberts: 10
Rounds: 2, 8
PAPER
Bristol paper (11 x 14. Strathmore a good but affordable brand)
PALETTE
something to squeeze paint onto. I use the plastic -usually sandwich sized - containers with sealing lids to keep paint from drying out.
WATER CONTAINER
Glass jar, tin coffee can, Plastic cup - doesn’t really matter, just something that won’t tip over easily and has a large enough mouth for brushes
WIPERS
Paper towels or old rags
TAPE
2 inch thick blue painters tape is absolutely fine.
MOUNT BOARD
Rigid plastic, wood, or cork board for mounting paper onto. Just bigger than 11x14
COVER-UP
Apron, big shirt, smock. Acrylic paint never comes out of clothing
Optional: -small spray bottle, gloves (I paint in nitrile gloves because I’m messy)
