Hey, Check This Out

One of the participants in my workshop last week at Omega, Heather Dubreuil, has done a lovely post on her blog about the workshop.  Heather is a practiced textile artist and painter, and you can see her work here on her web site.  She has been in a number of my online classes, and this was the first time I met her in person.  It was such a pleasure to get to know her a bit and work with her at Omega.

Here are a few of Heather's textile pieces from her web site:

Thanks, Heather, for coming to the workshop and blogging about it.  Thanks to everyone for visiting my blog.

Workshop At OMEGA

Last week I was teaching at OMEGA, and had a fabulous group of students.  Do I say that about every workshop?  Maybe.  Guess I've just been lucky to get such great people participating in workshops.  Here is a little eye-candy from the week.  I took mostly group shots, as the lighting was not right for getting head-on shots of individual pieces.  THIS IS ALL STUDENT WORK.

Five-Minute Paintings

A Series In Progress

The Drama of Black

Shapes, Lines, Patterns, Colors, YAY!

The beginnings of a Floating Shapes exercise

The gorgeous space at Omega

Shapes, lines, patterns

A little gem that turned up on the last day

Observing and taking photos

Spare and Graphic Collage

Gorgeous shapes!

Omega has a beautiful, tranquil, campus in Rhinebeck, NY.  It's like a luxurious summer camp for grown-ups, with lots of different housing options, great food, trails through the woods, a lake with boats you can use, gardens, a sanctuary for meditation, yoga classes open to everybody, plus wi-fi and cell service.  I love teaching there, and have also been a student.

Next year I will be teaching Intuitive Painting, June 4 - 9 at Omega.  This is open to all levels. 

I will also be teaching Visual Improvisation at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, May 7 - 13. This is appropriate for "advanced beginner through intermediat" painters, meaning that you need to have some experience to get the most out of it.

Awkward Stages of Paintings

I feel a bit scattered in the studio lately, which is not unusual for me in general, but especially when I am between workshops.  Still, I feel it's important to go there and do something, even if it is just playing around or wrecking a few works in progress.  I have been futzing with these "train wrecks" on and off for a while, taking the opportunity to see how much contrast and variety I can get, usually at the expense of any kind of unity or wholeness.  The benefit is that they surprise me.  I intentionally go into awkward and unknown territory.

Whether any of them become finished pieces or not (and some do!), they all go through really awkward, even ugly, stages.  So I thought I would share a few of those awkward stages with you.  I think most paintings (of mine, anyway) go though awkward stages, like adolescents.  So these are my thirteen-year-old girls, or fourteen-year-old boys of paintings.  They are all 19"x25" on paper:

One thing that works for me about the paintings being "ugly" at this stage, or awkward, is that they compel me to DO something.  I am not afraid to "wreck" them, because they are so obviously in need of major renovation.  It is freeing.

Why Buy Art? Why Not Just Make Your Own?

Here is a really interesting article on Artsy that addresses this question.  The author discusses the different motivations for buying art, and also some of the reasons you should also make your own.
I should put a picture here, just for fun, though I don't have one related to the article.

This is a painting I think I've finished.  Not quite sure yet.  It is 18"x24" on canvas.

Artsy is a terrific resource for research and education, as well as information and articles about current ideas and events in the art world.  Check out information on galleries, auctions, art fairs, museums, and more.  [I am not connected in any way, just passing on what I see as useful content].