Big Fat Art in Port Townsend

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teachiIt was my Big Fat Art Weekend workshop, and I had an absolutely awesome group, making Big Fat Art! PTSA is in its third season of offering classes and workshops in all types of media, on the campus of Fort Worden State Park, which is home to a number of creative non-profits.  Centrum, Copper Canyon Press, and Madrona Mind Body Institute are just a few.  It is SO COOL that all events from various organizations are coordinated on this calendar, so you can design your own experience. It is inspiring to see so many creative organizations fostering a spirit of cross-pollination and working together.

Detail shots from a few of my demo pieces.

I sometimes play my ukulele in class, to give students a break from my talking and breathing down their necks. 

I will post more pictures of student work in a later post, once I get them organized.

My next gig is teaching at the Vermont Ukulele Harvest, on October 14.  Check it out here.  And see a few videos on our FB page.

More Daily Paintings

It has definitely proved to be a challenge to finish a painting every day.  But it does push me to be in the studio more frequently, even when I don't have loads of time.  Here are a few of the latest, which are up on my Daily Paintworks Gallery.

These are all 6"x6", acrylic on panel, some with collage:

Daily Painting #10

Daily Painting #11

Daily Painting #12

Daily Painting #13

These small paintings give me an opportunity to focus my visual ideas. It is a way of paring down a visual statement, trying to get it clear and simple. I would like to use this format to make studies for larger works. Not sure how that will work, or IF it will work.  I don't generally use sketches or studies to create larger work. But the practice of finishing a piece in one or two sittings is similar to my Five Minute Paintings, in that it makes me focus and make aesthetic decisions more readily.

Enhancing a Color Area

Here is a short video demo on how I like to make an area of color more interesting and nuanced.  The key is subtlety, very low contrast variations on one color:

If you play the ukulele or would like to learn how to play the ukulele, I am teaching at the Vermont Ukulele Harvest, October 14, and also taking the workshops by other teachers. Check it out!

My Daily Painting Practice

I have managed to finish at least one painting per day since I started the Daily Painting. My goal is to keep it up as almost daily painting. I can't make it a priority on travel days or teaching days, but most week days while I am not away teaching I should be able to finish a small painting. The small format (I am working 6"x6") is very user-friendly.  I am painting directly on gessoed wood panels.

You can see my daily paintings, as well as studies and experimental pieces for sale here.  See the entire gallery of Daily Paintworks here.  Sell your own work on Daily Paintworks!

Here are four of my daily paintings. Of course, I still work in multiples, so there are more of each of these, some finished, as you'll see on my DPW gallery, and some still in the works. I would love to hear your own thoughts on a daily painting practice.  Have you tried it?  Have you been doing it for years? How does it work for you?

Daily Painting

I had the pleasure of Carol Marine's attendance at my workshop in Bend, Oregon, the other week at Art in the Mountains.  Carol is the person behind the Daily Paintworks web site and the author of "Daily Painting".  Though she is primarily a representational painter, and works in oils, I found we had much in common as artists.

In addition to inspiring daily painting, with loads of examples, Carol has a great section on composition. Though her process is different from mine, her essential message is exactly the same: trust your instincts; if a piece feels/looks "right", don't question it.  If it does not feel right, that is the time to refer to some basic rules and guidelines.  Don't start with the rules; start with your gut feeling, your visual intuition.

In her book Carol advocates completing one small painting per day, or as frequently as possible.  I am inspired to give it a try! My usual approach is to start a whole bunch of paintings, and work on them all over the course of whatever-time-I-have-available between workshops.  I never, NEVER, put pressure on myself to finish anything, but allow paintings to come to maturity in their own time. And they do, if I am paying attention.  I've started working on 6"x6" panels, and have completed several in the last several days.  Of course I've made many beginnings, but the practice is to finish one per day, and this makes a greats counterpoint to my usual practice.

Daily Painting #1, 6"x6"

Daily Painting #4, 6"x6"

See these and other on my Daily Paintworks Gallery.