Internships at Oil and Cotton

Oil and Cotton offers internships throughout the year for 6-month terms. Interns work on all aspects of small privately owned community art center, including administration, assisting during children's art classes, special event coordination, public relations, social networking, and community outreach. Working directly with owners Kayli House Cusick and Shannon Driscoll, an internship at Oil and Cotton provides invaluable exposure to the art world, art education, and community activism for those pursuing a future in the creative arts.

Our internships are geared toward students seeking degrees in art, art history, arts administration, curatorial studies, graphic design, media studies, museum studies, or public relations, but we welcome applicants of all backgrounds.

To apply, please submit your resume and a cover letter, explaining why you want to work at Oil and Cotton and what you hope to gain from the internship, to:
 info@oilandcotton.com

Internship days and hours are flexible. At this time, we are unable to offer a stipend.

Administrative Duties - Monday between 3 -7pm
Teaching Assistants - Tues-Thursday between 3-7pm
Events and Administrative - Evenings and Weekends (mostly Saturdays) between 10am-6pm

Photographing People: Street Photography and Portraits

Two-part series: Saturday, Oct 1-8, 10-1pm

We are very fortunate to be able to offer this class with photographer Kael Alford. Students will examine transcendent photographs in two documentary genres: street photography and portraiture. We’ll discuss what makes great photographs of people stand apart in an image-saturated world. We’ll address how documentary images are discovered and constructed, and explore techniques for telling stories about people in single photos and in groups of images.

Experienced photographers will be encouraged to find ways to make their work more personal and fulfilling and amateurs will be challenged to take their photography out of the realm of snapshots and into the space of shared revelation.

We’ll make some photographs together in the first session, participants will leave the first class with an assignment and return to the next week's class to edit and discuss their work. Though we will review technical skills, participants should know how to use their cameras.
Participants must have their own digital cameras. Digital single lens reflex cameras are preferred, but not essential - you can also bring your point and shoot.

Participants from 12 to 120 are welcome. Please feel free to contact Kael with questions about the class: kaelalford@gmail.com

Visit our website to register online.

Kael Alford is a documentary photographer and journalist with 15 years of professional, international experience who has recently moved to Oak Cliff. She has taught photography courses to young people, college students and other adults.

You can learn more about Kael and her photography here:
www.kaelalford.com
www.unembedded.com

Teen Studio Art Class at Oil and Cotton

Our teen class meets Thursday evenings 6:30-8:30pm. Registration is ongoing.

Students are working with classical drawing and painting techniques to create works that deepen artistic understanding and skills. Working from a model of the human skeleton, and with a variety of media, students are gaining useful knowledge for further artistic growth.

Instructor Emily Riggert encourages exploration of topics and materials, and assists with portfolio development. Each two-week segment focuses on a specific artistic element, and is paired with both classical and contemporary art examples. Register online or call us at 214.988.9189.

Oil and Cotton Dance Hall

9-16-2011 Oil & Cotton Oak Cliff, Texas from Elliott Munoz on Vimeo.
We hosted a Birthday Dance party for our friends Jeff Whittington and Leila Grothe this past weekend. The talented Elliot Munoz documented the dance hall madness. We have already had requests for regular underground dance parties at Oil and Cotton. Listen for the BEATS!!!

Embroidered Color Wheel at Oil and Cotton

Learn the art of embroidery this Saturday, Sept 24, 11am-2pm. Using the techniques learned in our first embroidery class and several new stitches we will embroider a COLOR WHEEL. Students will learn techniques for filling spaces in their embroidery work by combining stitches and create a a great color reference tool in the process. Pattern will be printed on the fabric; no transferring necessary! Fabric, embroidery floss, needle and wooden hoop provided. Knowledge of basic embroidery stitches best. If you are unable to make the class or are searching for a creative gift, we have a limited supply COLOR WHEEL embroidery kits available in our shop. Please visit our website to preregister.

Materials Included
• embroidery hoop
• cotton fabric with printed design
• floss of varying colors
• crewel needles

Instructor: Stephanie Scoggin
Price: $50

FREE pass to the Oil and Cotton Fiber Arts Craft Circle with purchase of this workshop! Try out the  Fiber Arts Circle free for one night when you take this or any other fiber arts workshops this fall. Our ongoing Craft Circle will take place on Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm.

Sharing Our Space With You...

Lately we have been fortunate to share our space with sweet families and friends. The lovely Joslyn Taylor hosted her daughter Audrey's Birthday Party here and added her golden touch to create a very special day. Friends celebrated with Audrey and made dream catchers dripping with with feathers, beads, and rainbows of color.

Our friend Mari Hidalgo threw a bridal shower for her close friend. Guests helped to create decorations for the wedding day. Shredded fabric was laced onto cord and made into a garland. Paper flowers were fashioned into festive decorations.

And last night Oil and Cotton was transformed into a Dance Hall for Jeff Whittington and Leila Grothe's double birthday blow-out.

This is a before picture, the during party shots were too full of mayhem and down and dirty dancing to share. To learn more about booking an event at Oil and Cotton please call or email. We look forward to sharing our space with you.

DIY SCREEN PRINTING - 6 Week Series

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. the Attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink through the mesh as a image onto a substrate.

Oil and Cotton is offering a six week DIY screen Printing series beginning this Saturday, Sept 17 through Oct 22 from 3-6pm. The workshop will provide an in depth understanding of the silk screening process. Students will learn everything they need to create a press and silkscreen within their own home and complete two silkscreen projects. Each student will receive an 18 page workbook filled with information and tips for continued printing after class!

Payment plans are available based on financial need.
Instructors: Mylan Nguyen and Jessica Trevizo
Price: $300

Square Utensil Basket this Saturday 10-2pm

Join us and learn the "ins and outs" of  basket weaving. All levels are welcome to this instructive workshop. Students will weave and complete a functional and sturdy square bottom basket, ideal for storing utensils, tools, or odds and ends. The basket is built from a solid wood base and comes up to a round. Learn basket weaves as well as rimming. There are only three more spots available, pleas visit the website to register.
Instructor: Jan Schmidt
Price: $50

Oil and Cotton Fiber Arts Circle - Open Studio Thursday Evenings

We have been inspired by our talented teachers and students to establish a Fiber Arts Collective. Fiber related arts have a long history and lend themselves to a communal environment where information and materials may be shared. We all have unfinished projects that are waiting for completion, so please join us on Thursday evenings beginning on September 15th from 6:30-8:30.

Fiber arts include all things fiber: sewing, needlepoint, knitting, crochet, felting, spinning, weaving, dyeing, and other creative processes that use textiles and fibers.

The mission of the Oil and Cotton Fiber Arts Circle is to provide an open workspace for fiber artists and craftspeople, to educate our community, and to create an environment for sharing and learning.
All skill levels are welcome in this open studio, providing you an opportunity to work on unfinished projects and begin new one in the good company of fellow fiber artists.

Monthly membership is $25. Dues will support Fiber Arts programming/events and facility costs. Bring your own supplies and/or purchase them at Oil and Cotton.

Membership Benefits Include:
Fiber Arts Circle drop in studio time on Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm
One guest pass (bring a friend) for drop in on Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm
10% off in the Oil and Cotton shop (except for consignment)
Free admission to Fiber Arts Events (guest speaker and demonstrations)
*No circle held November 24.

Email or call for more information.

Watercolor Series at Oil and Cotton

Join us this Saturday, September 10 from 10-2pm for the first of our new watercolor classes with Kyle Hobratschk. Botanicals are excellent subjects for watercolor to function singularly in formal, portrait-like studies or as multiples in arrangements. Leaves full of veins and complex shapes and color relationships can be paired down to simplified systems in preliminary drawing and painting. This class will introduce essential applications for color theory and color mixing in water-based media and pigments in general, methods for handling watercolor on paper, as well as explain differences and advantages to particular paper, paint, and brush types and brands. A wide variety will be described and available to try in the class before choosing to invest in pricey materials.
Quality artist-grade materials included for class. This class is limited to 8 students, please visit our website to register in advance. Look for our four week watercolor series in October!
Instructor: Kyle Hobratschk
Price: $80, includes class materials

Preconception and Fertility Series Sept 27 through Nov 8

Starts Sept 27 | 7 Week Series | Tuesdays | 6:30pm-8:30pm
September 27th – November 8th 2011
with Dr. Kate Naumes and Oil & Cotton Creative Exchange

Dr. Kate Naumes and Oil and Cotton are enthusiastically offering a Preconception and Fertility Series for optimal preconception preparation. Preconception care is what you do to prepare yourself to become pregnant. Come learn how to enhance your health in preparation for optimal fertility, a healthy full-term pregnancy, a straightforward labor, a rapid recovery, successful breastfeeding – and of course, a bright, healthy beautiful baby! Learn how nutrition, changes in body composition, exercise and sleep can positively impact your fertility and impact the health of any future pregnancy. Learn how to protect yourself from exposure to substances in the environment that can decrease fertility and harm a developing baby. Your future baby will benefit from the simple, non-invasive, cost-effective tools that naturopathic medicine has to offer during the pre-conception period. We will use journaling, discussion, and creative hands-on projects to explore mind/body issues surrounding fertility.

This series brings couples together in an inspiring environment to prepare for vibrant and healthy. Creative projects include sculpture, bookbinding, printing, collage, and handcraft.

Over the course of 7 weeks we will:
- Learn through interactive, creative participation, in a spirit of fun and curiosity
- Meet other Oak Cliff/Dallas couples with similar hopes and fears who are at a similar stage in life
- Get out of our heads and into our bodies
- Improve nutrition, exercise and sleep habits
- Learn how men’s food choices, emotions and stress responses can positively affect the genetics of your future child
- Learn how to positively impact the health of your sperm

Who is this class for?
- “We plan on becoming pregnant in the next 6 months to 1 year”
- “We want to explore natural ways to promote conception.”
- “A doctor has already recommended IVF or IUI, but I have heard that these work better when I am as healthy as possible”

7 week series – $400 per couple

To sign up for the next Preconception & Fertility Optimization Series visit or email Oil and Cotton or call 415.754.8305 to inquire about a future series.

Look for our upcoming Holistic Childbirth Education class in January!