Workshop With Venice Artist Flewnt

Over the course of the past year, my husband and I have been splitting our time between Seattle and Los Angeles. We have a little apartment on Venice Beach where we've gotten to know several of the local artists. One of our favorite LA artists is Flewnt, who creates assemblage works, including signs and flags.

The Best of LA Artist has a mobile studio where he offers workshops and stages pop-up galleries.  When the weather is fine, he leaves his bricks and mortar studio and takes his mobile studio up the Pacific Coast Highway, where he can park by the beach and create art between dips in the sea.

I was fortunate enough to take a workshop in Flewnt's mobile studio and it was amazing. He shared many of his techniques, from how he builds his "boxes" to how he adds texture, to how he lays out a composition.

Flewnt let me know the morning of the workshop where the van was parked. Since there is limited street parking in LA, my husband drove me from Venice to Central LA and dropped me off.

I was impressed by how nicely Flewnt had outfitted his studio. It's a little raw and gritty -- much like Los Angeles and much like Flewnt, himself. He even has hidden storage behind some of his assemblage pieces on the van. Many of the assemblage art pieces that he sells to the public also have little hidden doors and secret spaces.

As a former (and reformed) tagger, he has some in progress paintings in his studio, in addition to his assemblage pieces.

The converted step-van offers plenty of headroom for the six foot three artist. There is a place for everything, including his paints, brushes, tools, and materials. He's planned the space, so that everything he needs is within easy reach while working.

I wasn't in his studio for too long before he was busting out lumber and showing me how to build the "canvas" or "box". Next, he walked me through the process of creating texture and pattern for the flag I was building.

He kept pointing out that you can make art out of anything, even the scraps that fall on the floor.

He shared his secrets for the many layers of primer and paint and varnish that he uses.

Toward the end of the afternoon, I decided to take a break and watch Los Angeles pass me by. The sun was shining, but there was a cool breeze blowing through the studio. The occasional tourist or shopper from the nearby Melrose Flea Market would pop in to check out the art. 

At the end of the day, I went home with three flags!

I couldn't be more pleased with how my pieces turned out.

I even sacrificed the hem of my jeans, to create a tiny (about 3" by 5") flag! Because, remember, you can make art out of anything.

I definitely recommend buying Flewnt's art (we have several of his pieces) and taking his workshop. He's well known in the artist community. A few months ago, I was on a plane with Larry Bell, a world renowned sculptor. He mentioned Flewnt as one of his favorite Venice artists.

Flewnt is all about freedom and family, so it's no wonder he is most known for his American flag art. You can find him on Instagram, here.

And while I love my knock-off Flewnts (Fauxnts?), I still love my original Flewnts best. The flag shown above hangs on our patio wall -- our first and favorite of his pieces.



Love mixed media? You might like this post on how to make mixed media flowers.  Or click here for several easy art tutorials.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Amanda