Latchkey Reliquaries - Assemblage Shrines from Discarded Keys
Latchkey Reliquaries - Assemblage Shrines from Discarded Keys
CLASS STARTS: July 11th
ON DEMAND LIFETIME CLASS VIDEO ACCESS
LIVE Components Once A Week from July 11- August 8th
EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT UNTIL: June 11
The Workshop
Keys are strange little objects.
Most spend their lives tucked away in pockets, hanging on hooks, or rattling around in kitchen drawers. They open things, protect things, hide things. And once their purpose is gone, they’re usually tossed aside without much ceremony.
But old keys carry baggage (sometimes even opens it).
They feel like they should unlock something important—even if we no longer remember what.
I’ve always been drawn to them. Rusted skeleton keys. Tiny luggage keys. Bent mailbox keys. Keys to places that probably no longer exist. Whenever I find one in a flea market or junk shop, I can’t help but wonder what it once guarded. A love letter? A forgotten church? A seedy motel room with questionable wallpaper and a body in the bathtub?
In this class, we’ll transform discarded keys into assemblage reliquaries—small shrine-like constructions that feel part artifact, part talisman, part story waiting to be told.
Using old keys as both inspiration and structure, we’ll create pieces that suggest hidden histories, secret societies, strange saints, lost rooms, impossible doors, and memories half-buried beneath layers of rust and paint. Some may feel sacred. Some ominous. Some oddly humorous. That’s part of the fun.
We’ll explore techniques for creating rich aged surfaces using paint, texture, distressing, and patinas to make your reliquary feel discovered rather than manufactured. We’ll also incorporate found objects, devotional elements, symbolic imagery, and all the odd little treasures that make assemblage art tick.
Questions You Might Have:
The Scoop
How Does this Class Operate:
The Art class will feature about 5 hours of pre-recorded videos. The videos will discuss everything from inspiration, construction, painting, texture, composition and more.
Facebook Live Q and A sessions: 7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8. A Facebook Group has been established for participants. You can share your progress, ask questions and share ideas here.
On August 15th there will be a class critique on Zoom for all those who wish to participate. For those who want to participate I’ll talk about the finished or partially finished pieces. Don’t worry this is not a meany crit. I run crits so we can learn from each other and grow. Stay positive!
Why Join the Workshop?
Unlock Your Creativity: Explore diverse artistic techniques to craft unique assemblage sculptures
All Skill Levels Welcome: Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned artist, this workshop is designed for you.
Explore Painting Techniques: Learn my signature use of washes and layering of acrylic colors, along with delicious paint color recipes.
Explore Faux Patina Techniques: Discover simple yet fantastic antiquing tecbniques.
Play with Textures: I’ll show a variety of fun and weird methods to create textures.
Assembling Tips: Learn the best way to join found objects and how to create create a unified composition.
Inspirations: I’ll discuss inspirations and ideas that will help with your creations.
Other Questions You Might Have:
How much does it cost? $129.99 (109.99 early-bird discount until June 11th)
What will happen after I sign up? I will send you a welcome letter with the access links to the Facebook Group.
What happens on the start date July 11th: I will send the codes and links to get you started. You can watch all the videos at your leisure.
How long can I access the videos? Forever and ever. You will have to ability to download the videos right to your computer.
Explain the Live Components: I offer a weekly video Q and A in the Facebook Group for about 6 weeks. You can pre-post Questions or type them in during the events. On November 15th there is a ZOOM critique open to any participants who are interested. I will chat about creations and how different attendees solved art dilemmas differently.
SUPPLY LIST
Something to build your reliquary or shrine on. Could be a shadow box, cigar box, old drawer, antique tin, lockbox, broken clock, small cabinet, driftwood, or literally anything interesting.
Keys. Lots of keys- any type. Could be small, big or medium.
Variety of found objects that might make interesting additions. Items like dolls, watch parts, gears, lock parts, milagros, bolts, leather straps, springs, tiny bottles, beads, chains, religious medals, toy parts, old jewelry fragments, scraps of rusty metal…anything odd and evocative.
Collage elements - bits of paper, photos, etc. all types.
Texture Making Material
Cheese Cloth
Cardboard Scraps
Fabric
Paint Brushes (a couple small detail brushes, and bristle brushes
String, twine and wire (a couple of different smaller gauges)
Paint (good quality like Kroma, Golden or Liquitex)…either fluid or heavy body will work) small tubes will be fine.
Quinacridone Gold aka Azo Gold (if you can’t find it don’t worry there are other ways to make the effect)
Black (Mars or Carbon)
Titanium White
Pthalo Green (blue shade)
Dioxazine Purple
Transparent Red Oxide
Quinacridone Crimson (or Red)
Pthalo Blue
Nickle Azo Yellow
Paynes Gray
Green Gold
Iridescent Colors – Gold, Silver, Pearl. Any Metalic colors.
Mediums Etc.
Matte Medium – fluid or heavy body
Gesso
Adhesives
Aves Apoxie Clay or Aves Apoxie Sculpt
Acrylic Laxtex Caulking- White, (aka Alex Plus Fast Dry or Dap Kwik Seal) - get this at the hardware store (you can also use molding or modeling paste)
E6000
Wood Glue
White Glue (PVA)
Gorilla Glue (original amber colored)
Tools that will Make your Life Easier
Heat gun
Dremel – with cut off wheels. and carving tools
Drill
Optional fun -
Rare-Earth Magnets- these are super strong magnets if you want to be able to remove your from the shrine