Demo at High Country on Saturday 4th September

Be sure to join us on Labor Day Weekend, on Saturday, Sept. 4th, for me to demonstrate my painting techniques and talk to you about art!

I have so much fun when I demo at the gallery -- High Country Art and Antique Gallery -- in Blue Ridge, GA. They are located on East Main Stree in downtown and are the best gallery in town! Many different styles of artwork and great stuff to buy. Prices can fit any budget too! Cheryl and Mark Engledow are wonderful to work with and like making friends and new customers.

Here is one photo of a wall with my paintings on it. Sorry for the glare on the oil painting! Remember that when taking photos inside, the lighting will have an effect on how the photos of paintings look. This was a nighttime event held at the gallery and loads of fun was had that night also. When you visit the gallery, be sure to sign their guest book with an e-mail so they can let you know about important events at the gallery ---- like me demonstrating!!! But, seriously, do it so you can be informed about gallery walks, shows, etc.

Last time I demonstrated -- only about two weeks ago -- I sold two paintings while I was there, and talked to many people and demonstrated my pastel painting techniques. I even had a visit from a schoolmate that I had not seen in many, many years! So . . . come visit Blue Ridge and High Country Art Gallery on Saturday, Sept. 4! And, let us know you saw it here on my blog.

New style of classes coming soon!

Here is the plan in its enfancy!

This is a shot from one of my Smyrna Classes last year or so.

I decided last fall that December of 2009 would be the end of my weekly classes in pastel -- even though I had backed them down to every other week. I needed a break and wanted to think about my own art for more time than I was getting! I did plan some mini-workshops here in Woodstock -- on a Saturday so more people could have an opportunity to come. We studied composition, value and temperature. I have missed my teaching and have been thinking of something I want to do a little different than I have in the past.

Now . . . we are moving back to Smyrna -- this is where my husband and I grew up -- and where parents, siblings, children and grandchildren are living and it will be so much easier to see them.

I did enjoy the mentoring mini-workshops. Many students told me they were learning more than they had in other classes. That my way of teaching these was exactly what they had been looking for! So . . . here is a little of what I am thinking and planning. It is not set in stone yet -- just ideas that are still in the formative stages.

I plan to put out a calendar by e-mail to my previous students, and potential students that have asked to be on my mailing list. It will cover several weeks and most likely a couple of months. You must e-mail me or call and let me know you are interested in these sessions. That is the only way you will receive my address. This is more of a security type of thing for me. If you don't know me, then you need to establish some type of contact with me so I can get to know something about you and where you are in your art.



The calendar will tell you what days I plan to be in the studio and that I will have it open to students wishing to come paint with me! There will be a small charge for the amount of time you are there. I am thinking maybe 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM and most weeks, I will be available on two different days of each week. I am calling this an "open mentoring session class". At this time I am thinking the charge will be $20. And, you can paint in the medium of your choice. My thinking is this is not a session for beginners. You must have some experience in your medium, as this is more about advancing to the next level of your art.

You don't have to give me a plan as to what days you are coming. You can call me, e-mail, or just show up. Of course, letting me know would be good, but I will be there and if you can come at the last minute, you can do so. If I must change for some reason, there will be a posting on my blog. Students can check the blog before leaving to come and will know something has happened for me to cancel that day. I don't foresee that happening, but there must be a way to notify those students that haven't called or e-mailed. You just never know when there is an emergency that I can't foresee!

The sessions might be just painting on something of your choice, or on something specific. It might be divided between discussions on some aspect of painting that is needed, like the mini-workshops I had earlier this year. It could be critique of work, or looking at past artists and discussion about their life, inspirations, etc. Weather permitting we might plein air! You can let me know what you need!

So, if you are interested, please e-mail me or call and let me know your thoughts. Again, it won't happen until at least after I return from my six-week trip out West (November 15 I'll be home), and most likely not until after Jan. 1, 2011.

Here is a shot from a workshop I gave in Blue Ridge, GA.

And one more from my Smyrna classes.

Hope to hear from you!

The Great Chattahoochee Paint Out

This will be a long blog post. There is so much to show you and also to tell!

Last Thursday and Friday, I was involved in a paint out sponsored by the City of Roswell, GA and the Chattahoochee National Park Service. We applied about a month or more ago, and were then sent instructions about where we could paint officially. There were five different places in and around Roswell GA along the Chattahoochee River and its feeder creeks, the Chattahoochee National Park and Roswell City Parks.

I drove over to find the headquarters which was in the beautiful Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area at Island Ford. I'm glad I did, because I would have been in trouble trying to find a place to paint if I waited until the morning I was to paint. The gave us three days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to paint from 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM each day. On Saturday morning from 9:00  - 10:30 AM we could turn in two of our pieces to be judged for the competition and the reception to be held that evening.

Here are some photos of locations we could paint.

View from Chattahoochee River National
Recreation Area at Island Ford

Vickery Creek Falls at the Roswell Mill

Covered Bridge at Roswell Mill / Vickery Creek

Willeo Park

Now what did I do?

So the first morning I was able to attend was Thursday and I went to the Willeo Road Park. It was 8:00 AM when I arrived and there was only one place left to park -- everyone got there before I did! Darn! But, guess what the place I wanted to paint was in the sun and no one wanted it. Here is a shot of my easel with the first painting of the day and competition. The mist was still there when I started but was leaving fast.

I painted one, then a second painting and then a third one before I decided the water dripping off my face was driving me crazy. I packed it up and headed for the bridge on Riverside Drive underneath I-400. I did not see anything I wanted to paint, so I headed to Island Ford so the sun would be behind me and I would be shaded along the river bank. But, when I got there and trekked down the hill with all my supplies, I decided I did not want to paint there. I carried it all back up, put in car and headed over to the Roswell Mill. Now, I had it in a backpack, and so it was heavy, but not really too bad . . . just dang hot!

Here are the three paintings I did that morning - they are all pastels. The painting I did in the afternoon did not get finished before the long shadows got me and the hot day too! I thought I would return the next day to finish it.

Painting No. 1:  "Willeo Park Misty", 16" x 20"

Painting No. 2:  "River Entrance", 14" x 11"

Painting No. 3:  "River Sentinels", 12" x 9"

I did go back on Friday to Willeo Park and painted the same scene I did the first day, but in oil. It is not as successful, but worth keeping for reference for a larger work!

Day 2:  Vickery Creek Falls, 12" x 9"

Now I did go back to the Roswell Mill Park and hope to finish the painting I started the afternoon of the first day . . . but there had been rain somewhere upstream and Vickery Creek was much higher and muddy. It covered the rock I had been standing on to paint! So . . . I scouted out another location and decided to paint the falls.

Here is the painting from the Vickery Creek Falls. Oh, I forgot to show you I had a visitor and he watched me for about an hour -- a vulture (and then a friend of his also flew in to watch). I was a little nervous, but they kept their distance. Here is a photo:

Now, I submitted two of these paintings to the competition: Willeo Park Misty and River Entrance. I decided these were the two best of the four pastel paintings. I did not consider entering the oil since I really didn't feel like it was a finished painting worthy of framing. You know, they don't all turn out, not even half of them normally. So, I had to have them there on Saturday morning and then we went to the reception that evening at 7:30.

When we arrived, I was greeted by a friend who said "Congratulations"! I was surprised, but thought I had won an award. She immediately pointed in the direction of the painting across the room and you could see it above the heads of people . . . and it had this big bright blue ribbon! I had won Best in Show / First Place! Yahoo!!

The painting is shown here with me standing by it, but there is a reflection from the lights in it. But you can see it above -- Willeo Park Misty! I felt I had done a good job, and also that I left the painting before I did way too much to it. I left some of the scene for the viewer to fill in -- let the viewer's brain have an active part in looking at the painting, filling in some of the detail I left out.

So, though I was dreadfully hot and dripping, I managed to produce four paintings worthy of framing and one of them won Best in Show. And, my birthday was the next day -- what better way to start celebrating that. And there was prize money to boot! What more could I ask for -- beautiful places to paint, friends to paint with, four worthy pieces, and a ribbon!