I
had a wonderful time in Elizabeth Buckley’s drawing class! I was able
to explore any number of mediums and found to my surprise that I like
using color better than the charcoal or graphite. The atmosphere of the
class, the music, the conversation, and the encouragement Elizabeth
nurtured in the class allowed all of us to explore with ease. I'll be
back this coming summer. ---Joanne Pipersky
I signed up for the Drawing as Meditation workshop because I
was interested in learning skills in the creative/artistic realm. I had never tried to draw/paint outside the
usual girl scout type activities, and that was a looooong time ago. Elizabeth’s enthusiasm for the arts is so fun
and inspiring to be around that the first day I knew I could begin at my basic
level and take new skills home to practice.
The instruction was general enough to encourage experimentation, yet
specific enough to create a place to start the projects. The reference books she brought were very
helpful to read as I felt like the more instruction I got the better. The natural materials that served as models
provided a variety of challenges-small details to larger, more open spaces,
re-positioning objects to capture all aspects of the piece, shading for
light/dark and highlighting details, how to achieve textures, on and on. The use of pencil, India ink (which I think
we all loved), and the variety of drawing materials gave me a chance to
experiment without buying ALL that stuff myself. It's funny that at 55 years I NOW know I can
draw, and all it took was interest and action. --Carole Buckner
Taking a class from Elizabeth is a lovely experience which
provides people an opportunity to explore new methods of creating or
illustrating their perceptions of nature or other images that may be floating
around in their minds. It was surprising how within less than a week, each person
discovered their own style of drawing a feather, shell, leaf, bone or even a
landscape. She found a way to touch the artist in each of us, even if we did
not know it existed. ---Jan Boydstun
From the Ghost Ranch participant survey:
Excellent for both beginners and accomplished artists. Very good teaching style.
Elizabeth brought lots of good information and materials.
From Students in Studio Classes:
"Gentle and fun exercises that opened my experience with media and art principles in a very supportive environment."
--Mikki
"I had so much fun drawing with the eraser! It freed me from obsessing over getting it right."
"Elizabeth Buckley is a gifted teacher, able to encourage creativity and confidence in new students who fear they "aren't artists," as well as to develop and refine technique for more accomplished students. She also has a talent for finding words to explain concepts that are not easily verbalized. I highly recommend her for artists at any level."
--Hilary
About Elizabeth as an artist and writer:
"Elizabeth Buckley has been a close friend of mine for most of the twenty plus years I have lived in Albuquerque. Our more particular friendship has come out of the several small writing groups she and I have been a part of together over the years.
In these groups, Elizabeth has from the first days expressed in a finely honed prose her strong spiritual feeling for the weaving, which is her primary art form. Her weaving, like her writing, evinces a sensitive and deep relationship to the environment in which she lives. Also, because these groups are small and mutually instructive, I am confident in her generous and careful understanding of the intention of others in the group. She knows how to criticize attentively and to speak with thoughtful clarity about what each of us has brought to the group. She knows how to ask questions that matter to the work and to the human spirit. Especially she grasps how art can come into being through meditation. She knows how to listen. She knows how to hear. She knows how to speak."
--Phyllis
ABOUT ELIZABETH BUCKLEY'S ILLUSTRATED LECTURES:
"Warm thanks for presenting at OASIS. The presentation was so well received, as you probably saw from the questions and engaged conversation. Thank you for bringing such beauty and knowledge to the classroom!"
--Michael
"Very overdue thanks on behalf of Las Tejedoras Weaving Guild of Santa Fe for the wonderful program you put on for us. It was everything I had hoped for...and more. Seeing your tapestries, both the slides and the samples you brought, and hearing about your development as an artist was very interesting. And we all appreciated hearing about your experiences in France. What I really would love is the chance to spend more time talking tapestry, looking at tapestry, and studying tapestry with people who really know it."
--Mary
ABOUT ELIZABETH BUCKLEY AS TEACHER OF TAPESTRY TECHNIQUE & DESIGN:
"Although it has been over 10 years since I took Advanced Tapestry with Elizabeth Buckley, I still find that I am using some basic techniques I learned in her class and still remember the clarity and conviction of her teaching.
Elizabeth had thoroughly thought out the goals of the class and took us from beginning Rio Grande techniques to French gradation techniques and color blending, through supportive group critiques and the finishing techniques of blocking, mounting, and backing a finished small tapestry. She demanded a rigorous pace from her students as we had so much to learn. Her own creative process was well-illustrated and explained. She was able to take a class of students--some of whom were new to weaving, some of whom had been weavers in the Rio Grande style, others in the Navajo style, and myself in the tradition of Japanese silk weaving--and turned us all into French tapestry weavers!
I distinctly remember that Elizabeth was mentally present and focused in teaching even after driving two hours up from Albuquerque to the Northern New Mexico Community College in El Rito. The impression she conveyed to her students was one of a love of communicating her passion for beautifully produced tapestry and a sense that it was a complete way of life for her."
--Polly
"As a former student of Elizabeth Buckley's, I can attest to her superior qualities as a teacher. Her organization helped all of us to proceed from basic, often difficult French techniques to yet even more challenging techniques."
Teaching design can be deadly, but Elizabeth had projects and techniques that drew students into the process. She would emphasize a concept--such as negative space--have a "hands on" exercise and encourage us to consider the aesthetics of the negative space in our tapestry designs. Most of the class had little art background, myself included, so her procedures helped us to visualize those things we had never before considered.
The class was a true cross-section of our adult community by age and race/ethnicity. Elizabeth encouraged each student to create tapestries that reflected their own cultural background. The cultural differences that were expressed in the tapestries made for a unique and rich experience.
Elizabeth Buckley changed my previously jaded concept of tapestry. Tapestry is a life style...and becomes a passion for many who are touched by it."
--Kathy
