This Drawing course is for people with little to no experience with drawing, but a desire to try something new to challenge their thinking, observation skills, and creativity. The lessons will offer a supportive, confidence-building environment in which adult learners develop foundational skills through a thoughtfully sequenced series of activities that build week by week. Beginning with the physical fundamentals of drawing—such as hand coordination and mark-making—the course gradually advances to perspective, proportion, and complex forms, with each new technique reinforcing prior lessons. We will practice drawing from direct observation as well as the imagination. By nurturing innate creative abilities and emphasizing focused, accurate observation, students strengthen both technical skill and self-confidence. The course also frames drawing as a meditative, present-moment practice, encouraging participants to slow down, observe deeply, and engage creatively—making the learning experience both enriching and restorative.

Week 1 — Dropping into the Slipstream: Entering Focused Awareness

Purpose: To help students slow down; quiet mental noise, and enter a state of attentive presence that supports learning and creativity. Core Themes: Letting go of performance pressure; shifting from thinking about drawing to experiencing seeing; establishing calm; sustained attention. Learning Emphases: Drawing as a practice of attention; Eye–hand connection; Awareness of line, space, and proportion without judgment. Typical Practices: Blind and semi-blind contour drawing, slow observational exercises, timed drawings that emphasize presence over outcome. Outcome: Students learn how to enter a focused, receptive state—the foundation for all observational drawing.

Week 2 — Working Within the Current: Deepening Observation and Visual Understanding

Purpose: To develop accurate observation while maintaining the ease and momentum of flow established in Part I. Core Themes: Staying present while engaging skill; Seeing relationships rather than objects; Trusting perception over assumption. Learning Emphases: Proportion, angles, and spatial relationships; Light, shadow, and form observing before correcting. Typical Practices: Measuring techniques (sight-size, comparative measurement); Value studies and simple forms; Extended observational drawings. Outcome: Students strengthen their ability to remain in focused flow while drawing with increasing accuracy and confidence.

Week 3 — Responding with Intention: Integrating Skill, Expression, and Choice

Purpose: To help students consciously shape their drawings while staying connected to observation and flow. Core Themes: Choice without force; Expression grounded in seeing; Balancing structure and freedom. Learning Emphases: Selective emphasis and simplification; Personal mark-making; Creative interpretation rooted in observation. Typical Practices: Longer, self-directed drawings; Compositional decisions; Reflective discussion of process. Outcome: Students learn to respond, using skill and creativity together, while remaining grounded in attention and presence.

 (Class size is limited to 20 students.)

Materials: All are available at Bayshore or on Amazon. Students will need: A blank notebook at least 8”x10”  (this can be an art sketchbook or simply 8-10 blank sheets of copy paper per session), 2-3 sharpened 2B pencils, An eraser (white plastic art eraser, gum eraser, or kneaded eraser).

Instructor: Drusilla Hill

Dru Hill has studied, created, and taught art in the United States and abroad, to children and adults. She has worked as a commercial illustrator, graphic designer, fine artist, and teacher after receiving a BA/FA, an Associate Degree in Commercial Art, and MA of Education. Works by Dru Hill have been acquired by businesses and private collectors in the United States and Europe. She has shown in galleries and juried shows including: The Frye Art Museum, Northwest Watercolor Society, the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, Tubac Center for the Arts, and the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild.

Class 1: Toni Caskey – Beautiful Bulbs in Your Garden

Toni Caskey has been a WSU Skagit County Master Gardener for 25 years. “I love this program! I was our annual Tulip Tours Director for 21 years. I truly enjoyed escorting over 120 tour groups as we trekked through the tulips and daffodils throughout our unique Skagit Valley.  As we travelled to Roozengaarde, TulipTown, and the Skagit County Master Gardener Discovery Garden, our guests were always amazed and delighted. This flowering patchwork industry started with six different colors and now has nearly 200 varieties! I am here today to speak about how you, too, can be involved as a home tulip and other bulbs grower!”

Class 2: Sheri Rylaarsdam – Vegetable Gardening in the PNW

Sheri Rylaarsdam is a transplanted farm girl from Iowa. She has been gardening in the Pacific Northwest for almost 50 years. Sheri completed the Master Gardener training with WSU in 2019.

Sheri will talk about soil: the basis of everything, planning: what to do before you set foot in the garden, and timing: what to do when you get there. Hopefully you will learn something new and together we can discuss practical advice that will encourage and inspire you on your gardening journey.

Class 3: Hallie Kintner and Diana Wisen – Pruning Shrubs

Hallie Kintner is a Skagit County Extension Master Gardener and has taken many pruning classes from Plant Amnesty. Diana Wisen has been an active Skagit County Master Gardener for 35 years. She has taught classes on numerous gardening topics and is on the Board of Directors of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation.

This class will discuss what, when, why, and how to prune ornamental shrubs for a healthy and beautiful garden.

Class 4, 1st hour: Diana Wisen and Janet Kowalski – Right Plant Right Place Right Purpose

Diana Wisen has been an active Skagit County Master Gardener for 35 years. She has taught classes on numerous gardening topics and is on the Board of Directors of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation. Janet Koalski has been a Master Gardener since 2019.

Successful gardening depends on many factors including knowing your site and its conditions as well as selecting plants which thrive in those conditions. This class will focus on how to decide what to plant and why, in order to have the garden of your dreams where you live.

Class 4, 2nd hour: Bobbi Lemme – Irrigation

Bobbi Lemme became a Master Gardener in 2019.  She eventually gravitated to the drip irrigation system at the Discovery Garden and is now in charge of any additions or repairs, along with the assistance of other dedicated volunteers.

This one-hour presentation will cover the basics of setting up a drip irrigation system in your own garden.  There will be hands-on demonstrations of how to connect tubing and make repairs.  It's not rocket science!  Start small and add on to your system as you feel more comfortable.  It's so nice to free up your time from watering to work with those lovely plants!

Class 5: Diana Wisen - Gardening for Fragrance

Diana Wisen has been an active Skagit County Master Gardener for 35 years. She has taught classes on numerous gardening topics and is on the Board of Directors of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation.

Growing fragrant plants adds a powerful dimension to the pleasures of gardening. Scent is the most potent and bewitching substance in the gardener’s repertory and yet it is the most neglected and least understood. Throughout history plant scents have delighted and served people. This class will encourage you to discover the pleasure of gardening for fragrance and will include take home plant lists.

Class 6: Deborah Smeltzer – Composting

Deborah Smeltzer (Master Gardener Class of 2012) currently serves as chair of the Training Team, treasurer of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation board, Discovery Garden Front Door Garden Co-Coordinator, and member of the Web/Communications, Recruitment & Retention, Front Door, and Strategic Planning project teams. She has been a master gardener instructor for soils, soil fertility, composting, mosses, lichens, fungi, online tools, and presentation skills. 

This class will provide attendees with information about reducing garden waste, understanding what compost is and what it is not, how to make compost, including hot, cold, & vermicompost, and basic tools for composting. You should come away from this class with a love of sustainable gardening practices that help us achieve a healthy planet. By the end of the class, we hope you will understand the benefits of incorporating compost into garden soil and how vermicomposting is a benefit year-round for city dwellers. A detailed resources and reference list will be provided.

No previous science or math background is required. In this intense, non-mathematical science appreciation course you will step into a realm where reality refuses to follow common sense. You’ll wrestle with fundamental questions about the nature of matter, energy, observation and reality itself. Through six lectures, we’ll trace the evolution of quantum physics development which will challenge your deepest intuitions.

Lecture 1: Introduction to the Realms of Physics - We’ll map out the hierarchy of physical theories from Newton’s clockwork cosmos to Einstein’s warped spacetime to where quantum phenomena begin to dominate.

Lecture 2: The Early History of Quantum Mechanics – We will trace the bold intellectual leaps that forged quantum theory’s foundation.

Lecture 3: The Schrödinger Equation - Discover the central equation of quantum mechanics without the benefit of mathematics. We’ll interpret the wavefunction as a repository of possibilities and their probabilities. You’ll gain an intuitive grasp of why particles behave like waves and waves behave as particles and why this duality upends our classical, worldly expectations.

Lecture 4: Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics – We will delve into several interpretations that wrestle with our attempt at making sense of the quantum foundation of reality and its mind-bending predictions. No single interpretation commands universal acceptance. It is still a mystery!

Lecture 5: QFT and The Standard Model of Particle Physics – We will move beyond particles to fields as the universe’s true building blocks of reality. We’ll outline how quantum field theory is consistent with Einstein’s special relativity and leads to the current Standard Model’s description of quarks, leptons, and their interactions with the force carrying fields. Although we’ll skip the math, you’ll come away with a basic conceptual sense of subatomic reality.

Lecture 6: Beyond the Standard Model - We will discuss the open questions that hint at deeper layers of reality, including quantum gravity contenders like string theory and loop quantum gravity, and the ongoing hunt for a unified description of all forces.

This course will likely leave you dazzled by the staggering successes of quantum physics while aware of the profound mysteries that persist. Hopefully, you’ll appreciate why quantum physics demands nothing less than a reimagining of reality itself.

Instructor: Barrie Hughlock PhD

I love science, and have studied science throughout my life, and continue to do so. I have taken many courses in science outside of my major, which is physics. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley and received my doctorate at Brown University.

This course is designed for anyone interested in learning a little more about wine; the viticulture, the most common grapes, how to taste (you will learn how to taste like a pro!), and pair with food.

It will begin with a brief overview of how and where grapes thrive and the eight most common grape varieties. We will cover ‘still’ wine production and classification. Finally, a discussion of what characteristics one should observe when tasting wine and how best to pair wine with food will conclude the three-week course.

Instructor: Connie Pangrazi

Professional Experience:

Over 30 years of educational experience – both public and private. Retired from Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University - Assistant Dean of Academics. Skagit Valley College faculty adjunct, Leadership Skagit Class of 2018.

Community Service:

Soroptimist International of Anacortes member and current Shop president, Leadership Skagit Coach 2019-21, Anacortes School District Ready to Learn Fair Clothing Drive Coordinator, Island Hospital Therapy Dog Program Coordinator.

Connie Pangrazi retired in 2017 after serving as the Assistant Dean of Academics in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College as well as teaching courses in Exercise Science and Physical Education pedagogy. Prior to entering higher education, Connie taught in public education for more than 10 years.

Connie purchased a home in Northern Italy in 2021. As the property has a small vineyard and Cantina, she became interested in the production of wine. Within the past two years Connie has completed Levels One, Two and Three of the WSET and is currently completing her DipWSET Certification. She hopes to one day make her own wine and be involved in the wine industry.

The course will consist of six sessions. Each one-hour session will include 30–45 minutes of presentation, with the remaining time dedicated to discussion and Q&A. The session topics are as follows:

Session 1:  Overview of the Lincoln Theatre What the Lincoln Theatre is; the role of the Lincoln Theatre Foundation; key historical events associated with both; why the Lincoln Theatre has been important to the community, past and present; and why the Lincoln survived while other theatres in the county and greater region did not. Presented by: Ron Guttu, Duncan West, and Jessica Waggoner

Session 2: Film Industry Changes Over the Last 100 Years and Their Impact on the Lincoln The session will draw on the presenters' and student experiences attending movies - from single screen theaters to multiplexes and on to VHS, Netflix DVDs by mail, and the current release strategies of everywhere all the time. We will dwell on the value of the communal theater experience. Presented by: Ron (technology and film content) and Duncan (historical context and social movements)

Session 3: Theatre History in Skagit County (Including Anacortes) At one time Anacortes had two theaters and a drive-in, Mount Vernon had two theaters and two multiplexes, Burlington had a drive in and a Mexican cinema, Sedro Woolley and Concrete had one theater each. LaConner and Stanwood had theaters. A travelling theater based in Clear Lake travelled the San Juan Islands. What happened to them all and why? This and other sessions will include suggestions for student research of the Anacortes American, which is online, and the trove of articles and ads gathered by the instructors. Presented by: Duncan West

Session 4:  History of Niche Films and the Local Communities They Serve Regular showings of Swedish language and Mexican cinema were common in different periods. Adult films were a feature of struggling theaters with resulting city council and court activity. Saturday matinees were as common as Saturday morning cartoons today. This session will explore the differentiation of theater offerings in the county. Presented by: Duncan West

Session 5:  Forming the Foundation and Saving the Lincoln: The Early Years (1986–2004) The Lincoln closed in 1984 after 5 people attended the showing of the last movie. Downtown Mount Vernon was in decline as businesses moved to malls and multiplexes on College Way. New owners of the theater searched for uses of the space and after an epiphany decided to revive the theater as an arts venue. Much work ensued with results that helped revitalize downtown Mount Vernon Presented by: Duncan West

Session 6:  The Lincoln’s Transformation into the Venue Operating Today (2004–Present) After a community outpouring of support, ownership of the theater by the city of Mount Vernon was affirmed and the Lincoln continued to grow and evolve into the space and programming we know today, The instructor, a current Foundation Board member will discuss the future of the theater and its programming. Presented by: Ron Guttu

Instructor: Ron Guttu

Since 1993, Ron Guttu has been a volunteer, a member, a benefactor and a prior board member and board president of the Lincoln Theatre Center Foundation. Now a retired oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Ron currently serves as the Treasurer of the Lincoln Theatre Center Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Ron is especially excited to be involved in the 100-year anniversary of the Lincoln Theatre and is committed to the continued restoration of the theater as it enters its next 100 years. He is proud to be part of the Lincoln Theatre community which includes its board, staff and most importantly it’s members who are all working to assure that the Lincoln Theatre continues to be Skagit county’s premier performing and cinematic arts center.

He is excited to share his knowledge of cinema and the history of the Lincoln Theatre with the Anacortes Senior College.

Instructor: Duncan West

Duncan West is a native Washingtonian who grew up on an island. He was introduced to his people at the local movie theater at age 16 when he was old enough to drive himself to the local movie theater on Thursday foreign film night. He has worked and lived in Mount Vernon for over 15 years, serving on the Lincoln Board for 6 of those years.

A history major at the University of Washington his interest is history from below, from original sources and occasionally has trouble deciding whether he would rather spend time with people or microfilmed newspapers. He prides himself in finding the telling anecdotes that illuminates a trend. The more fun the anecdote, the better. Two years ago he began looking at reminiscences of Skagit pioneers at the Skagit County Historical Museum, researching online newspapers, and ordering up newspapers on microfilm to understand how and why the Lincoln survived.

He built, and will share, an online trove of theater movie ads, musical reviews, and business articles from 1899 to the present.