Contemporary artist and instructor Billie W. Shelburn will demonstrate creative watercolor techniques for Art League of the Smokies at 6:15 p.m. on March 1 at Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City.

Anyone can attend the event free of charge.

Shelburn will paint from images in her mind rather than from direct resources as she uses subliminal images to create abstract realism through the use of lights and darks, shapes and moods. She’ll demonstrate how she uses the elements and principles of design to build her composition and color as a technique for definition of space. Oriental paper collage will also be applied to the painting.

Shelburn’s paintings have won national, international and regional awards, and she was inducted into the National Organization for Women in the Arts. She is the resident artist in painting, drawing and mixed media at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, a position she has held for the last 15 years.

828.488.7843 or www.swain.k12.nc.us/cfta.