Alchemy as Particles of Transformation -Lessons from Mother Nature
Judith Kruger’s Workshop at Willow Pond SLO, September 15-19th, 2025
Abstract Alchemy in Black, White, and Warm Metallics
“I am as much an Alchemist, explorer, and researcher as Artist.”
With the frolic of summer behind us, and right on the cusp of fall as we settle into the autumnal rhythms, this 5-day course is designed to consider the essence of our nature with a study of the arcane processes of our ancestors. Judith Kruger is coming to Willow Pond for a metamorphic workshop that unpacks abstract alchemy with the ultimate creativity booster, constraint. Using naturally sourced pigments of black, white, and warm metallics, Kruger guides us with decades of observation and expertise as we explore meaningful, process-driven, ecological work that truly nurtures the heart and spirit. A variety of painting, surfaces, and collage techniques, will be covered to cultivate individualized expression in mixed media, and abstractionists and realists at all skill levels are welcome.
Kruger will demonstrate her famous non-toxic studio methods using different paint, ink and homemade gesso from inorganic and organic sources including pine soot, shells, and earth minerals. Metallic leafing and alchemic oxidation techniques will also be introduced for warmth and depth.
Mother Nature is our original frame reference for beauty and Judith invites a reinterpretation of nature’s deep imagery while seeking the true essence by employing matter from nature itself, and within a limited palette. Her large body of work addresses Human-Environment connectivity and their shared vulnerabilities and these granular and cumulative lessons came from her support of other artists in their work development, through teaching, mentoring and grant writing.
“An obsession with tedious, alchemic processes drives my desire to create paintings, as objects that emulate nature on a particle level, linking perception with emotion. The work is meant to be experienced.
Her current ecofeminist work examines the specific relationship between women and ecology. She is recognized internationally for her advocacy of inorganic and organic, natural pigments and historic, ecological painting processes.
“My backstory most certainly informs my projects today. For 30+ years I created first, then travelled to faraway lands to collaborate with artisans. Now, for the past 20+ years, I globally source and forage for natural matter/pigments for self-manufactured art materials, pushing the boundaries of historic processes that are deeply rooted in other cultures. To me, it’s all the same process: meaningful cross-cultural collaborations, just in reverse.”
About the Artist
Judith's work is held in private, public and corporate collections: some of which include Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT, Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, Savannah College of Art and Design, GA and Phipps Conservatory’s Center for Sustainable Landscapes, Pittsburgh, PA. She was commissioned to create an outdoor-site specific, sculptural work in honor of Earth Day (2023) for University of St Joseph, West Hartford, CT.
In 2008, Judith initiated the course Nihonga: Then and Now at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was awarded a grant from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs to teach her course Getting the Dirt on Paint in the Chicago Public School System. Her painting workshops and studio residencies, based on these courses, currently garner an international following. Judith leads an annual Master Abstraction Workshop-in-Residence as part of Mass MoCA’s Assets for Artists Residency program since 2016.
