• 2026
  • AUG
  • 11&12
  • 6-9PM
Workshop Title and Teacher Name Workshop Title and Teacher Name Workshop Title and Teacher Name

Your Unforgettable Sketch Journal

Thea Ernest

Dear Artist:

If your studio is like mine, you have a stash of mementos without a home: a great concert ticket stub, some empty seed packets, a document of your final car payment, scrap of wallpaper or fabric from yester-year, pressed plants, wine label, gift wrap remnants perhaps?

In this 6 hour class, we’ll combine journal writing, painting, drawing and collage to create collections of these memories.  We’ll talk about why we collect, how to work with a theme, page design and application methods.  These are all tools to help you preserve stories

This will be a fun combination of art and craft that is designed to be your entry into this style of journaling.

Welcome to “Your Unforgettable Journal”,

Thea Ernest

  • LOCATION: Portsmouth Arts Guild
  • MEMBER TUITON: $125
  • NON-MEMBER TUITION: $155
TKE 2026 sized

Thea Ernest

 Thea Ernest arrived in Rhode Island in 1983 ready to surrender to art at Rhode Island School of Design.  After receiving her BFA in Jewelry and Light Metals in 1987, she created custom cabinet hardware and decorative metalwork both for private homes and historic properties. 

Act two for Thea is teaching and practicing watercolor, drawing and collage.  The immediacy, color and portability of this work helps tell the stories that capture her attention, the stories that she enjoys sharing with her audience. 

Thea was an Artist in Residency at the Whiterock Conservancy, Coon Rapids IA, in the fall of 2021.  Her commissioned home portraits grace walls in several states.  In 2025, Thea won a grant from Rhode Island State Council for the Arts to create collages with elder residents of the Aldersbridge communities.  The artwork featured particularly memorable stories from the residents’ long lives. 

Thea is an administrator for Urban Sketchers in Rhode Island.  The group meets weekly to sketch from direct observation at locations, indoors and out, across the state. 

You can see Thea’s work on Instagram @theaernestdesign 

Contact email: t2ernest@gmail.com 

Find Urban Sketchers Rhode Island on Facebook (Urban Sketchers Rhode Island) and on Instagram (@urbansketchersrhodeisland)

Registration

This workshop runs on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 11 & 12, from 6:00 to 9:00pm.

PAG Members use discount code PAGMEM to receive the $30 member discount. Enter the code on the 2nd screen. Remember to click the APPLY button on the right.

Please note: we don’t accept checks as payment for workshops and classes.
Questions? Contact workshops@portsmoutharts.org.