Pineapples & Adult Classes

My first show of the season (and last outdoor show of 2008) is done. Artscape had a nice crowd and I sold a few pieces but all artists are feeling the effects of a slow economy! On the bright side, my booth looked great and I met some wonderful people that I'll, hopefully, see again!

I'm into my 3rd week of Child Classes and every session I am amazed at the talent and creativity of these kids. We are studying Line: naming, describing, contours & gestures. Here is a pineapple rendered in charcoal from Rebecca, one of my 3rd graders.


Adult Classes

I've got an adult watercolor class starting next week.

Watercolor, Basics Made Fun! – Wednesdays, October 1 – November 5th, 10am – 11:30am - $135

This class will provide an explanation of basic watercolor materials and techniques. We will explore composition and color theory as it relates to the watercolor medium. Several paintings will be completed during this 6 week course. I’ll supply the paper, you supply paints and brushes. (supply list available)

I've also had several requests about "Ladies' Night Out" Art Evenings. I put on my gender correct hat and called them "Adult Night Out" classes..but you get the drift! Check out the Adult Classes page on my website for more information.

Painting and Planning

These photos are from my summer camp. I only had one this summer in order to scale down my "go away and be silent" commands to my two kids still at home. The camp was a ton of fun though.

Fall Session of Art classes starts this week. I've been planning, bookkeeping, studio organizing, supply ordering, and generally getting prepared. This session is going to be a good one!

I'm raising the bar on drawing skills. I tried quick "mini-lessons" at the beginning of each class last Spring that focused on drawing animals and I think it helped loosen up the kids and improve their skills. I plan to give each student a small sketchbook to take home and work on drawing starters and suggestions.

Class enrollment is great. I've got over 30 students with 3 full classes and 1 with only 1 spot left. I'm still having a hard time reaching older (grades 4 & up) homeschoolers but I imagine it will be like my afterschool classes and catch on by word of mouth. So if you know any homeschoolers or groups...pass my name along!

Big goal for before the end of this year....GET THE STUDENT GALLERY ON-LINE! I'm almost embarrassed to give parents my web release to sign considering I haven't put student artwork up in a couple of years. This is one of those monster projects that is taking me forever to do from scratch...but will hopefully be easy to update when it is up!

Fresh from the Easel:
Walking in the Dunes is a 10" x 10" acrylic from an old snapshot of my husband on our honeymoon. This was a bit of a warm-up for me to get back to painting dunes!

On the Easel:
Two more in progress from the Reflections painting. Pretty soon you'll be able to see why I call it "Reflections." I keep post all the previous in progress shots because I like the progression. I've snapped random "In progress" in the past but I'm being pretty good about capturing this one at the end of each painting session. Do you like seeing the work as it goes along? Should I start putting stuff like this up permanantly (like on my Facebook account)?

Desperately Seeking Inspiration

*big movie voice* And now, Ladies and Gentleman, the long-awaited sequel to Inspiration Lost.

Fortunately, I'm not so hopeless or dramatic as the title sounds!

As I wrote before, I hit a period at the beginning of this summer of deep introspective about my life and art. Chaos was reigning in my personal life and I think I simply put art on a "business" auto pilot.

Although I painted subjects I was fond of (nature), I leaned everything towards "what people like" and "what people will buy." Needless to say, the "people" were a step behind in my agenda! I had decent yet disappointing sales this spring. I didn't understand..I did all the "right" things. I painted what "they" wanted, I painted smaller and created different "price points." I invested heavily into creating a set of prints from my most popular pieces. I marketed, I followed up, etc, etc.

Somewhere in the middle of all my business books and marketing plans, I lost site of my vision. In fact, I wasn't sure what my vision was or should be. I've done a lot of decent paintings over the past year and a some good paintings, but few great paintings. I'm capable of it, I have a few in my inventory, but as a long-time friend wrote to me one time, she can tell the paintings that I wanted to do and the ones I felt I needed to do.

So..how to create great painting? I, like many, many, many artists, can draw or paint about anything you put in front of me (in several mediums!), but can I make it a work of art? a breath taker? something you'll stop and stare at and say , "Wow!"? So in walks my "vision" or "inspiration." How do I paint what means the most to me?

I took a look at other artists..other wildlife artists. Many are animal rights advocates or work to increase for endangered species. Other coastal artists..many are environmental activists or, at the very least, LIVE at the beach!

So, I thought, where can I join in? Where can I throw my time, talent and money to what I love? Sheesh..how am I supposed to have time to take on a "cause"? I'm really busy all the time. I teach art classes to kids in my studio, I run my own kids to sports and Scouting. I volunteer up at the school and am active in the PTA. How can I possibly fit another activity into my schedule? Will I have to wait until my kids are grown and gone to have time for my "artistic vision?"

Now, normally I'm a pretty sharp gal and a quick learner. I have to admit that it took most of the summer for me to figure out this conundrum. How can I fit in time "create" an artistic vision in the middle of all my CHILD oriented activities. I LOVE my KIDS and all the work and volunteering I do around other KIDS too much to cut out any more time from them and the activities I do with them. Hmm..see a pattern?

I didn't need to create a vision or go looking for it. It was there all along. I'm first a stay-at-home mom, and then an artist. My user name on many forums is "mommyartist." I think I've been living my vision day in and day out. My favorite (and possibly my best) paintings include kids.

So..I'm heading down a middle path between my coastal art and my animal art. Some may argue (mainly moms and teachers) that animal art and child art is no different. They are probably right and may be why I love painting animals! I can guarantee you are going to see paintings of kids on the beach or kids with animals..but that makes sense, doesn't it?

On The Easel:
Reflections - I'm trying this painting with only 4 colors...Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Orange, Payne's Gray, & Titanium White. It is a play on warm and cool colors and the texture in the water. I'm still working on the direction lines of the incoming waves, but I'm pleased with how it's shaping out. There is a poem somewhere I started to go with this painting. Hopefully, I'll find it and finish it before thepainting is complete.