Learning to Let Go at the Easel

Learning to Let Go at the Easel

Workshop | Available

Intermediate-Advanced
2/26/2027-2/28/2027
9:00 AM-4:00 PM MST (Arizona) on Fri Sat Sun
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$525.00
$50.00

Learning to Let Go at the Easel

Workshop | Available

In this workshop, we will practice letting go of our preconceived ideas of how our paintings should look. Stanka will share her mindset and favorite techniques using non-traditional tools for letting go of fear and getting out of our own way at the easel.  We will be discussing discernment in our decisions regarding composition, color choices, and the balance between abstraction and realism. The three days will be a practice of stepping into unknown waters, with the shore nearby. We will have a live model for two days, with the option of bringing your own high-quality source material as well. (Please make sure it is copyright-free.) This workshop is meant for students experienced in painting a portrait in oil. www.stankakordic.com

Stanka Kordic

Stanka Kordic is a first-generation American born of Croatian parents. She followed her talented brothers, Vladimir and Branko, into the world of Art. Stanka graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1985, with a major in illustration and a minor in painting. From there, she traveled Europe, taking in as much art as humanly possible. She returned to work as an illustrator for several years. Her projects included editorial art, package design, and book illustration.

In pursuit of artistic freedom, she left the commercial world in 1988 to establish a professional art studio, concentrating her efforts on painting the landscape and figure. This led to portrait commissions, international awards, and inclusion in several corporate collections throughout the Midwest, including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Key Corp.

Since 2009, her focus has been to develop her personal figurative work. Stanka's awards include, finalist two years in a row from the New Salem Museum of Contemporary Realist Art, the Gold Medal of Honor in Painting from Allied Artists of America, and two Certificates of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America International Competition. In 2021, she was honored to receive an Ohio Arts Council Individual Award of Excellence.

Stanka’s paintings have been exhibited widely, including at the Museu Europeu d’Art Modern in Barcelona, Spain, the National Arts Club, and the Salmagundi Club, both in New York City, the Butler Institute of American Art, and McDonough Museum, both in Youngstown, Ohio. In 2026, her work is on exhibit in a Cleveland Museum of Art sponsored juried show on view at the Transformer Station in Cleveland, Ohio.

Her art and process have been featured in: International Artist Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, Southwest Art, and The Artists Magazine. Her paintings are included in the book, Disrupted Realism: Paintings for a Distracted World, by John Seed. Additionally, she has been interviewed by John Dalton Gently Does It podcast, Savvy Painter with Antrese Wood, and The Undraped Artist.


Gallery Representation: Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia, PA and Miami, FL.