Five Day Art Retreat

If you were to give yourself a five-day art retreat, during which you had no other responsibilities, what would you do?

• Would you prefer to have a studio all to yourself, or be in a large group studio with a handful of other artists, but have your own designated space?
• Would you prefer working alongside a mentor in this group, or not?
• What would be your expectations in terms of your own work?
• Do you imagine focusing on one series, or creating a body of work for a show?
• Would you prefer to leave the goals open ended and just work?
• Is such a retreat possible at home or in your own studio? 
• Is five days enough?

Mentoring workshop at ACA in Florida, 2018

Me working on the wall.

 Lorraine Glessner has written an "Art Bite" series on a self-made artist's residency. Read it here. Let me know your thoughts on all of the above.

Mentoring Workshop at ACA

Last week I was at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL, with twelve mentoring students. This is an independent study workshop, in which everyone (including me) works on her own work, and I offer individual critique and facilitate group discussions. We used the dance studio, which has beautifully high ceilings, lots of natural light, and plenty of space for us each to have an 8'x8' wall to work on.

Here are a few studio shots:

A couple shots of my workspace:

And some of my works in process:

24"x24" on panel

20"x20" on canvas

36"x36" on canvas

24"x24" on panel

20"x20" on canvas

36"x36" on canvas

19"x25" on paper

19"x25" on paper

19"x25" on paper

19"x25" on paper

19"x25" on paper

19"x25" on paper

I began by working on larger canvases and then smaller canvases and panels. Then, for the last two days I worked on paper. For the whole week most of us (including me) worked on multiple pieces at once. Our housing and meals were right there on campus, so we had no obligations other than to paint!

Mentoring Workshop

I have just a few spots available in my Mentoring Workshop coming up in March in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. This is a five-day workshop in which we all work independently - no instruction, no class assignments - and then I give individual feedback and coaching. We have group discussions and a few slide shows as well.  Here is a little video from my last mentoring workshop.
If you are interested in participating in the 2018 Mentoring Workshop, please e-mail me directly. I will send you the details and a way to sign up. The Atlantic Center for the Arts has light-filled, generous, studio space, comfortable accommodations, and meals right on campus. Five full days of focused art practice!

Mentoring Workshop

This past week I was in Stowe, Vermont at the Helen Day Art Center with my mentoring workshop.  We all worked in one big studio, individually, and then came together for group discussions, lunch, and occasional silliness.  I offered one-on-one feedback and coaching to each participant, as needed, but also got inspiration and ideas from the group.  It was a fabulously synergistic experience!  I wish I had gotten more photos,  but I was busy painting.  Here are a few, though:

Part of my work space.  We each got a 6' table and a 4'x8' wall.

This is a bad view of the space itself.  The 4'x8' walls are moveable.

A piece from Leslie, after she discovered the technique of flinging house paint.

A sampling of Debbie's work

A sampling of Ree's work

After the flinging of house paint

"Green Acreage", one of my pieces I consider finished; 19.5"x25.5"

Another of my finished pieces, untitled, same size as above.

One more of my almost finished pieces.  I can see that the bit in the upper left needs to be painted over.

I will be doing more mentoring workshops; this one was the first, kind of experimental. What makes a mentoring workshop different from a regular one is that each participant works independently.  There is no instruction or assignments or demos, but I do give individual coaching and feedback.  I work alongside the participants.  The group has to be small - this one had eight participants, and that was about right.  It was made up of people I had worked with before in workshops, and I knew to be capable of independent work.

I have two workshops scheduled at Helen Day this year : 

• Abstract Painting and Composition for Textile Artists; April 18 - 21, 2017
• Big Fat Art, October 20 - 22, 2017

See them (and all of the spring workshops at Helen Day) here.  Scroll down for specific workshops.