This workshop will explore the spiral pattern, a beautiful and efficient structure commonly found throughout the natural world. From seashells to DNA, pinecones to sunflowers, hurricanes, waves, and the Fibonacci sequence, many natural phenomena share this winding curve structure. This workshop will combine art and science- by closely observing, sketching and art making, participants will sculpt organic clay forms, create a colorful collage based on the Fibonacci sequence, and make prints using botanical specimens including cabbage, cauliflower, celery and fiddlehead ferns. Cross-discipline connections are shared between art, design and science as well as the natural and human made world. Open for teens to adults.

More on Teacher Karen Fuchs: Karen Fuchs is a teaching artist and designer with a background in textile design and interior architecture. She has been awarded artist residencies at VCCA (Virginia Center for the Creative Arts), Vermont Studio School and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. After graduating with a BFA from Moore College of Art, she had a weaving studio in Princeton, NJ, worked professionally in interior architecture in NYC for several years selecting finishes and furniture for interiors, and taught color and materials at Pratt. For the last two decades Karen has developed and taught curriculum that focuses on the patterns, forms, and structures found in the natural world. She has shared her workshops at the MOMA, Parsons School of Design, MAD Museum, New York Botanical Gardens, NAEA Conference, Montclair Art Museum, Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills NJ, Michener Art Museum and Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit, NJ. Her audiences are diverse and include a wide variety of backgrounds and ages, from kids to lifelong learners. Her own work includes cyanotypes, printmaking, textiles, drawing, collage, sculpture and assemblage. She is currently at work on a book, a creative field guide to art forms and patterns in nature.