Breaking Rules with Flower Child Roberta Ahrens

Roberta Ahrens Workshop at Willow Pond SLO, April 20-23, 2024

The Architecture of Nature

Spring at Willow Pond SLO was the perfect landscape for a botanical-inspired workshop by Roberta Ahrens who delivered another playful, bold, textured, and colorful study on what she likes to call “the architecture of nature”.

This 4-day workshop spanned her entire plaster process on cracked linen using image transfer and abstraction and was completed with a final sanding, carving, and etching as she demonstrated her finishing techniques that bring depth and movement into the final piece.

Her students couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and generous mentor. From her love of horticulture in full bloom, meeting her goal of ensuring participants have a hands-on experience in each phase of the artistic process to leaving the workshop with a finished work of art.

On day one, Roberta showed the artists her signature technique of painting on cracked linen canvases. By day two, we were building layers of color and intensity in the morning and breaking rules after lunch. Also part of her routine, Ahrens pieces are known for bringing presence and manipulation to her work. By day three, it was time to set the students free with the choice to begin new smaller works or dedicate focus to carving and exploring with Dremel tools and rubbed varnish. Day four included edge detailing, wrapping, cracking, laughing, and new pals ! The workshop ended with an opportunity to photograph the finished work. 

About the Artist

Roberta Ahrens is one of Northern California's Master Decorative Painters & Fine Artists. With over 30 years of experience in the application of classic and contemporary painted finishes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She is now considered a legacy artist, with a body of over 300 pieces sold since she began her focus on Fine Art in 2005.