Award-winning Maine bird carver Joshua Brewer leads this special 5-week workshop at the Gilley. You will learn to carve and paint a bufflehead decoy, with hands-on training. All materials provided but you are welcome to bring your own tools as well. Bring a lunch. Class meets from 10am to 4pm on 5 consecutive Thursdays.

Josh is a master carver who makes a living doing what he loves, carving birds out of cedar. Collectors love it too – the Little Deer Isle artist’s work is in high demand and he mostly works on commission. We are thrilled to have him teaching a class at the Gilley.

MDI's own Liddy Hubbell joins us in February as the Gilley's People-Nature-Art presenter. She paints Downeast Maine using bold gestural strokes and focused palettes. Much of her work develops from the natural beauty of Acadia National Park and the towns on Mount Desert Island in Maine. 

People-Nature-Art is a monthly series that brings creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach to nature.

Paint a fox and the moon in watercolor in this fun Family Paint ‘n’ Sip.

Artist Erika Elizabeth will walk students through a step-by-step process. All materials provided along with tea, seltzer, juice and snacks. This family-friendly paint ‘n’ sip is suitable for all experience levels, and those age 6 and older. All materials will be provided. Space is limited, and preregistration is required.  

Create your very own wool 3D Octopus with needle felting fiber artist and instructor Hillary Dow!

We will use wool sourced from Maine fiber farms to learn basic needle felting techniques as you transform the puffy piles of wool into eight tentacles on a 3D octopus! 

This project may be slightly challenging for those who are brand new to needle felting, but everyone in the class will be provided multiple visual aids (video clips and still images) to accompany the live instruction. The additional instructional tools are intended to support you if additional time is necessary to work at a slower pace. The repetitive nature of the eight-tentacle design is perfect for developing basic felting techniques.

All materials and tools provided.